K 
01 

c^s 

q 
> 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Till-   SLOSS  COLLECTION  OF  THE  SEMITIC  I.IKKAKY 
OK  THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


Accession  .Vo. 


I.  GUIS  SI.  OSS. 

FEBRUARY.  1897. 

•     Ojss  No. 


THE 


Settlement  of  the  Jews 


IN    NORTH    AMERICA. 


CHARIvES   P.    DALY,   LL.D. 

!'  X  "y   )\  ^  ij  r,' 

President  of  the  American  Geographical  Society,  /  .,•>'>-'""      ":  ~>     >^ 

/:         •-'-) 

.  y 

\  F      /  ^N 

\->  .     ---i->  /<-<' 

\  V^v-       -<•    ' 

EDITED,  WITH  NOTES  AND  APPENDICES,  BY      '*<    '.^^  ± 
MAX   J.    KOHLER,  A.M.,  LL.B. 


NEW  YORK : 
PHILIP  COWEN,  213-215  EAST  44TH  STREET. 

1893- 


COPYRIGHTED  1893, 
BY  CHAS.  P.  DALY  AND  MAX  J.  KOHLER. 


TABLE   OF  CONTENTS. 


PREFACE.     By  the  Editor          .  .  v. 

INTRODUCTION.     By  the  Editor     ...  xi 

SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  JEWS  IN  NORTH  AMERICA.     By 
Judge  Daly. 

New  York  i 

Pennsylvania                                 .             .             .  58 

Maryland       ......  62 

Georgia                            .                          .  64 

South  Carolina           .....  74 

Rhode  Island       .                          ...  76 

CONTINUATION  IN  1893.     By  Judge  Daly         .  .       101 

Containing  sketches  of  several  prominent  New  York 
Jews  of  this  country,  including  Mordecai  M.  Noah, 
Jacob  Hays  and  others. 

APPENDICES. 
APPENDIX     I. — Jews  in  Delaware.     By  the  Editor      .        151 

APPENDIX   II. --Legal     Status    of    the   Jews   in    the 

Colonies         ^    .  .  155 

APPENDIX  III.— On   some   i8th  Century  Strictures  on 

the  Jews  of  New  York         .  .162 


PREFACE. 

More  than  twenty  years  have  now  elapsed  since 
Judge  Daly's  work  was  first  presented  to  the  public, 
yet  I  feel  that  no  excuse  or  apology  is  necessary 
for  its  re-publication  to-day. 

Mr.  Daly,  then  Chief  Justice  of  the  Court  of 
Common  Pleas  of  this  city,  originally  prepared  the 
work  in  the  form  of  an  address  delivered  at  the  cele 
bration  of  the  50th  anniversary  of  the  Hebrew  Benev 
olent  Society  of  New  York,  on  April  n,  1872, 
and  then  enlarged  it  for  publication  in  The  Jewish 
Times  of  that  year.  Subsequently,  the  accomplished 
and  erudite  author  utilized  a  portiou  of  the  same 
data  in  an  address  delivered  at  the  laying  of  the  cor 
ner-stone  of  the  new  Hebrew  Orphan  Asylum,  New 
York,  May  17,  1883.*  It  seems  to  me  that  the  work 
has  not  lost  the  smallest  element  of  interest  since 
that  time,  but,  on  the  contrary,  appeals  to-day  to  a 
much  larger  public  than  then,  and,  as,  unfortunately, 
it  did  not  appear  in  durable  form,  will  seem  to  be 
new  to  the  large  majority  of  its  readers  of  to-day. 
Here  and  there,  the  student  of  American  Jewish 
history  has, since  its  original  appearance, re-discovered 
Judge  Daly's  work  in  out-of-the-way  and  few-arid - 
far-between  corners,  and  drawn  upon  it  as  by  far  the 

*  This  address  was  printed  in  full  in  THE  AMERICAN  HEBREW 
at  the  time  and  published  in  pamphlet  form. 


most  valuable,  comprehensive  and  interesting  work 
on  the  subject.  Many  others,  to  my  knowledge,  have, 
after  search,  been  unable  to  obtain  the  work,  and 
the  purpose  of  the  present  re-publication  is  to  make  it 
accessible  to  these,  as  well  as  to  the  large  public  whom 
the  work  will  please  for  more  general  reasons.  The 
causes  of  our  interest  in  a  work  like  the  present  are 
numerous  and  varied.  Perhaps  the  most  natural 
source  of  interest  is  our  race  pride,  our  gratifica 
tion  over  the  deeds  of  members  of  our  race,  pres 
ent  or  past,  purely  because  of  our  common  ties  of 
race. 

Often  this  interest  in  and  enthusiasm  over  our 
past  is  not  only  justifiable  but  commendable.  When 
a  recent  emigre,  like  Goldwin  Smith,  has  the  arro 
gance  and  effrontery  to  characterize  the  Jews,  espe 
cially  those  of  America,  as  parasites,  who  wait  till 
others  have  sown  and  then  rush  in  to  divide  with 
them  the  harvest,  it  is  well  to  point  to  co-religionists 
who  for  centuries  were  engaged  in  this  country  in  the 
arduous,  and  often  unproductive  occupation  of  sow 
ing,  as  a  conclusive  refutation  of  such  assertions, 
born  of  ignorance  and  prejudice.  In  this  sense  we 
may  be  proud  and  rejoice  that  Jews  were  interested 
co-workers  in  the  discovery,  settlement  and  devel 
opment  of  our  land,  and  acquaint  ourselves  as 
well  as  our  Christian  neighbors  with  those  incidents 
in  our  national  history. 

The  work  under  consideration  appeals  to  us  also 
in  other  ways.  No  statement  has,  perhaps, 
come  to  be  better  recognized  than  that  we  cannot 


understand  the  present  without  a  study  of  the  past. 
Incidents  and  traits  suddenly  come  to  the  surface 
which  a  necessarily  superficial  consideration  of 
present  conditions  does  not  explain.  Other  forces 
besides  those  we  generally  recognize,  are  working 
about  us,  and  not  the  less  effectively  because  the 
shallow,  practical  man  of  to  day  fails  to  note  them. 
Problems  of  the  present  may  often  be  solved  by  a 
study  of  past  experiences.  Besides,  it  has  at  length 
become  recognized  here  and  abroad  that  American 
Judaism  has  its  own  peculiar  characteristics,  virtues 
and  vices,  its  own  line  of  development.  A  work  like 
the  present  one  throws  much  new  light  and  adds 
considerable  interesting  data  to  a  study  of  these 
questions. 

Since  Judge  Daly's  work  first  appeared,  there  has 
been  a  sweeping  revolution  apparent  in  American 
Judaism.  He  wrote  about  the  middle  of  the  German- 
Jewish  migration  to  America;  since  then  other  and 
far  more  numerous  classes  of  Jews  have  arrived  here, 
while  their  predecessors  have  multiplied  and  thrived. 
Our  chanties  have  increased  and  developed  beyond 
all  expectations,  our  standing  and  influence  in  the 
community  even  more  so.  But  what  interests  us  even 
more  at  this  point  is  the  intellectual  development  of 
the  body  of  American  Jews.  We  have  erected  and 
patronize  scores  of  libraries.  We  have  representa 
tives  in  the  faculties  of  nearly  all  our  large  colleges, 
many  distinguished  scholars  among  them.  The  Jewish 
press  hasincreasedin  influence  as  well  as  numerically. 
Jewish  Publication  Societies  which  failed  to  interest 


enough  persons  then,  are  to-day  in  that  respect  at 
least,  thriving.  Is  it  not  time,  then,  that  we  take 
more  interest  in  our  past,  and  proceed  to  study  it 
more  carefully,  and  not  content  ourselves  with  stop 
ping  at  a  period  two  thousand  years  behind  us  ? 
Perhaps  the  best  answer  to  the  question  is  the 
establishment  of  the  American  Jewish  Historical 
Society,  with  many  able  workers  enlisted  in  its 
service.  The  formation  of  such  a  society  and  the 
promises  it  offers  for  the  future,  seem  to  me  the  best 
proofs  possible  that  the  publication  to  day  of  Judge 
Daly's  work,  will  not  be  followed  by  twenty  years  of 
inactivity  and  lack  of  interest  in  continuing  and 
developing  the  subject-matter.  No  better  work  to 
start  with,  upon  which  to  build,  than  Judge  Daly's  can 
be  conceived  of.  Almost  every  line  affords  a  chance 
for  interesting  elaboration  and  investigation.  Nor  can 
anything  more  conducive  to  systematic  study  and 
intelligent  collection  of  data  be  obtained.  Even  at 
the  last  meeting  of  the  Historical  Society,  there 
were  several  clear  cases  of  unconscious  re-discover 
ing  of  data  known  to  and  employed  by  Judge  Daly. 
It  is  with  the  expectation  that  the  republication  of 
the  present  work  will  be  of  interest  and  profit  to  the 
general  public,  as  well  as  to  the  scholar,  that  it 
appears  anew  to-day.  It  is  not  for  me  to  praise 
Judge  Daly's  work;  the  reader  will  soon  have  an 
opportunity  to  do  that  himself.  I  may  be  pardoned, 
however,  if  I  add  that  the  narrative  is  always  interest 
ing,  no  matter  how  trivial  the  incident  might  appear, 
if  elaborated  by  some  less  able  pen.  Besides  the 


ix 


most  intimate  acquaintance  with  the  data  of  New 
York  and  American  history  generally,  Judge  Daly's 
work  is  characterized  by  absolute  accuracy  of  state 
ment  and  impartiality  of  treatment.  It  is  therefore 
with  pleasure  that  we  turn  to  his  account  of  a  people 
whom  he  describes  as  having  "dwelt  upon  this  island 
for  more  than  two  centuries,  and  who,  though  not, 
until  a  recent  period,  very  numerous,  have,  as  an 
integral  portion  of  our  population,  exercised  a  very 
material  influence  upon  the  commercial  development 
and  prosperity  of  this  city." 

Judge  Daly's  work,  as  it  originally  appeared,  con 
tained  numerous  citations  of  authorities  in  the  foot 
notes.  The  editor  has  materially  increased  these,  so 
as  to  render  the  work  more  valuable  to  the  student, 
has  verified  almost  every  statement,  and  added  some 
additional  notes  bearing  on  the  text.  All  his  notes 
are  signed  "Editor."  He  has  also  supplied  an  Intro 
duction,  based  largely  on  a  paper  read  by  him 
before  the  American  Jewish  Historical  Society  in 
Philadelphia  in  December,  1892,  upon  "The 
Beginnings  of  New  York  Jewish  History."  He 
also  wishes  to  add  that  he  has  attempted  throughout 
to  preserve  absolutely  the  identity  of  Judge  Daly's 
work,  and  has  therefore  in  several  instances 
reluctantly  omitted  notes  bearing  only  distantly 
on  the  text. 

His  thanks  are  due  to  Judge  Daly  for  kindly 
•consenting  to  the  republication  of  the  work. 
Furthermore,  Judge  Daly  kindly  volunteered  to 
write  an  additional  instalment  for  this  series;  it  is 


needless  to  say  that  his  offer  has  been  gratefully 
accepted.  This  new  portion  will  appear  as  a 
supplementary  instalment. 

MAX  J.  KOHLER. 


INTRODUCTION. 


About  70  years  ago  an  astute  Yankee,  after  having 
traveled  about  abroad  for  some  time,  wrote  a  book  in 
which  he  described,  among:  the  other  things  which 
had  come  under  his  observation,  the  unfortunate  con 
dition  of  the  Jews  in  Europe,  especially  of  Italy.  He 
expresses  surprise  that  the  Jews  had  not  availed 
themselves  of  America's  civil  and  religious  liberty, 
and  accounts  for  the  fact  in  two  ways:  "The  one 
theory  is  based  on  their  reputed  dread  of  the  sea,  'for 
the  water,'  say  they,  Miath  no  beams.'  Another  rea 
son  is  predicated  on  the  proverbial  astuteness  of  us 
New  Englanders,  with  whom  not  even  the  Jews  dare 
venture  into  competition."  If  our  Yankee  were  to 
reappear  in  our  midst  to-day,  I  think  he  would  be 
bound  to  confess  either  that  human  nature  had 
changed  since  his  day,  or  that  neither  of  his  two 
theories  is  satisfactory.  I  have  availed  myself  of  his 
amusing  statement,  however,  because  it  is  a  capital 
illustration  of  the  popular  ignorance  of  American- 
Jewish  history  which  has  not  yet  disappeared,  even 
mong  the  American  Jews  themselves  as  a  body. 
While  Judge  Daly's  work  is  the  most  interesting  and 
important  presentation  of  the  claims  of  the  Jews  to 
credit  for  long  association  with  the  destinies  of  our 
country  from  early  colonial  times  down  to  our  own 
day,  the  last  few  years  have  opened  up  a  field  of 
research  which  gives  promises  of  rich  returns,  going 
to  show  that  the  Jews  have  been  actively  interested 
in  the  discovery,  colonization  and  settlement  of 
America  from  the  days  of  Columbus  on.  I  propose 
to  dwell  on  this  subject  in  this  brief  Introduction 
to  Judge  Daly's  work. 


Xll  INTRODUCTION 

Prof.  M.  Kayserling  has  made  the  department 
of  Spanish -Jewish  relations  to  the  Discovery 
and  Colonization  of  the  New  World  peculiarly 
his  own.  While  his  early  works  on  "Sephardim" 
and  "Portuguese  Discoveries"  only  touched  on  Amer 
ica,  his  recent  investigations — so  far  as  we  can  judge 
from  his  interesting  article  on  "The  First  Jew  on 
American  Soil"  in  The  Menorah  for  October,  1892, 
and  the  reports  received  from  him  and  not  yet  pub 
lished,  based  on  personal  examination  of  the  Spanish 
archives  with  particular  view  to  this  subject— will  be 
authoritative  expositions  of  the  work  of  the  Jews 
in  this  connection.  Nor  is  it  strange  that  the  Jews 
should  have  actively  participated  in  the  work  of 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  explorers.  The  indebted 
ness  of  the  modern  world  to  the  brilliant  achieve 
ments  of  the  Moors  in  the  way  of  navigation  and 
geographical  science,  which  alone  made  the  era  of 
discoveries  possible,  is  to-day  recognized.  Yet  the 
direct  connection  of  the  Moors>  with  Christian  "Europe 
was  infinitesimal.  As  in  the  case  of  medicine  and  in 
the  various  industries,  so  also  here,  the  Jews  became 
the  intermediaries  between  Moors  and  Christians,  and 
imparted  the  scientific  discoveries  which  the  former 
so  liberally  shared  with  them,  and  which  they  them 
selves  did  something  towards  enlarging,  to  Christian 
Europe,  during  and  after  the  Moorish  occupation  of 
Spain.  Various  writers  have  touched  on  this  subject 
from  time  to  time,  and  it  is  indeed  an  interesting 
one.  I  may  be  pardoned,  however,  for  calling  atten 
tion  to  a  valuable  paper,  collecting  much  of  the  data 
on  the  subject  by  my  father,  Rev.  Dr.  K.  Kohler, 
read  before  the  German  Historical  Society  of  New 
York,  and  printed  in  the  Belletristisches  Journal 
in  May,  1891  ;  a  rather  inadequate  translation 
of  the  same,  printed  without  the  author's 


INTRODUCTION  Xlll 

supervision,    appeared    in    The    Menorah    for    July, 
1891. 

Eugene  L,awrence,  in  a  valuable  article  on  "The 
Mystery  of  Columbus,"  which  appeared  in  Harpers' 
Monthly  recently  (April,  1892),  indicates  briefly  the 
work  of  the  Jews  in  this  direction.  Their  work  may 
be  briefly  summarized  as  having  been  :  first,  in 
spreading  and  developing  geographical  science;  next, 
in  participating  in  some  of  the  colonizing  expeditions 
themselves,  though  under  serious  difficulties  and 
under  disguised  names  and  professions  of  religion; 
and,  lastly,  in  some  of  the  early  settlements  them 
selves.  Prof.  Kayserling  has  proven  that  there  were 
secret  Jews  (Maranos)  with  Columbus  on  his  first 
voyages,  one  of  whom  at  once  settled  in  Cuba,  and 
that  there  were  Jewish  financiers  who  aided  Columbus 
in  securing  the  funds  for  his  voyages.  Because  of 
royal  interdictions  and  fears  of  the  Inquisition,  it  is 
extremely  difficult  to  identify  the  Jews  in  these 
expeditions.  The  same  is  true  of  the  early  settlements 
in  America  under  the  Spanish  and  the  Portuguese,  as 
in  Mexico  and  Brazil.  In  the  former  country,  scarcely 
any  but  those  whom  the  Inquisition,  unfortunately 
for  them,  exposed  as  Jews,  can  be  to-day  recognized- 
Of  the  latter,  it  seems  clear  that  Jews  settled  in  the 
country  as  early  as  1548,  living  generally  as  New 
Christians.  During  the  short-lived  Dutch  occupation 
of  Brazil,  they  resumed  their  Jewish  worship,  but 
paid  the  penalty  in  part  at  least  with  their  lives 
when  the  Portuguese  regained  control.  But  this 
portion  of  our  history  is  still  so  fragmentary  and 
obscure,  that  we  cannot  profitably  linger  over  it,  espe" 
cially  as  it  is  rather  foreign  to  our  subject,  the  history 
of  the  Jews  in  North  America. 

There   is  one  further  departure  from  the  subject, 
for  which  I  must,  however,  ask  the  reader's  kind  in- 


X  W  INTRODUCTION 

dulgence,  especially  as  I  hope  to  show  that  the  whole 
matter  is  intimately  connected  with  the  first  arrival 
of  Jews  in  New  York.  I  shall  proceed  to  set  this  forth 
at  some  length. 

In  1859,  a  paper  was  read  before  the  New  York 
Historical  Society  by  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Fischell  of  New 
York,  on  The  History  of  the  Jews  in  America,  which 
led  to  an  interesting  discussion  in  which  the  lecturer 
was  forced  to  take  sides  against  the  American  histo 
rian  George  Bancroft  on  the  question  whether  the 
Jews  had  enjoyed  fuller  liberties  in  Rhode  Island 
under  Roger  Williams'  successors  than  under  the 
Dutch,  Bancroft  espousing  the  cause  of  the  former, 
Dr.  Fischell  of  the  latter.  This  is  an  interesting 
question  because,  while  we  are  constantly  reminded 
of  Rhode  Island's  toleration,  the  Dutch  do  not 
generally  receive  due  credit  for  this  trait  from 
American  historians.  As  a  large  portion  of  Judge 
Daly's  work  is  devoted  to  the  history  of  the  Jews  in 
places  settled  by  the  Dutch, — for  the  Jewish  settle 
ment  in  New  York  gave  rise  to  a  number  of  others, — 
this  subject  of  Dutch  toleration  is  of  considerable  inter 
est  to  us.  This  work  will  show  that,  neither  under 
the  Dutch  nor  in  Rhode  Island,  were  the  rights  of  the 
Jewish  settlers  as  extensive  as  those  of  the  adherents 
of  the  prevailing  religions.  Nor  does  it  appear  that 
the  Dutch  government  originally  intended  to  pursue 
the  same  policy  of  religions  toleration  as  to  her 
colonial  possessions  as  she  adopted  at.  home,  lor  we 
know  that  the  very  Puritans  who  were  permitted  to 
enjoy  Amsterdam's  generous  hospitality  and  toleration, 
were  refused  permission  to  settle  in  the  Dutch 
Colonies,  prior  to  arranging  for  the  colony  which  was 
subsequently  planted  at  Plymouth. 

It  required  the  leveling  and  humanizing  influences 
of  Commerce  to  bring  about  religious  toleration,  and 


INTRODUCTION  XV 

this  explains  the  fact  that  the  Dutch  West  India 
Company  took  a  different  attitude  in  this  matter  than 
the  Government,  in  sanctioning  and  encouraging  the 
settlement  of  the  Jews  in  New  Netherland.  The  letter 
directed  by  the  Dutch  West  India  Company  Directors 
to  Stuyvesant,  containing  this  grant, is  interesting  as 
showing  the  conflict  between  old-time  prejudice  and  in 
tolerance  and  the  commercial  instinct  of  the  Dutch  as 
to  the  desirability  ofgiving  the  permission  prayed  for. 
The  words  "and  also  because  of  the  large  amount  of 
capital  which  the  Jews  have  invested  in  the  shares  of 
this  Company, ' '  were  no  doubt  a  very  important  argu 
ment  in  favor  of  making  the  concession. 

But  it  is  my  privilege  to  point  out  a  much  earlier 
connection  between  the  Jews  and  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company,  which  colonized  New  Nether- 
land.  It  appears  that  William  Usselinx,  who  had  for 
many  years  agitated  the  question  of  incorporating  the 
Company,  but  had  not  found  a  favorable  ear  till  1620 
or  thereabouts,  was  annoyed  to  find  that  the  States 
General  had  received  a  draft  of  a  proposed  charter 
for  a  West  India  Company  which  differed  in  several 
essential  features  from  the  one  he  had  proposed.  The 
opposition  charter  provided  for  a  series  of  attacks  on 
the  Spanish  silver  fleets  by  the  Company's  vessels 
and  for  means  for  depriving  the  Dutch  of  their  Bra 
zilian  settlements.  One  of  the  chief  arguments  in 
favorof  this  proposition  was  the  assistance  that  would 
be  secured  from  the  Jews  who  were  settled  in  Brazil 
and  who  had  offered  to  co-operate  with  the  Dutch, 
so  as  to  secure  the  more  liberal  Dutch  rule  instead  of 
the  harsh  and  intolerant  Portuguese.  In  Dr.  Jame 
son's1  interesting  biography  of  William  of  Usselinx, 


i  American    Historical  Association   Papers,  Vol.  II.  p.  76,  and 
authorities  cited  there. 


XVI  INTRODUCTION 

several  letters  from  Usselinx  to  the  States  General 
are  found,  with  references  to  other,  original  authori 
ties,  which  bear  out  my  statements. 

In  one  of  these  letters  we  find  Usseliux  assailing  this 
proposed  charter  by  means  of  a  most  savage  attack 
ou  the  Jews:  "No  trust  should  be  put  in  the  promises 
made  there  (in  Brazil)  by  the  Jews,  a  race  faithless  and 
pusillanimous,  enemies  to  all  the  world  and  especially 
to  all  Christians,  caring  not  whose  house  burns,  so 
long  as  they  may  warm  themselves  at  the  coals,  who 
would  rather  see  a  hundred  thousand  Christians 
perish  than  suffer  the  loss  of  a  hundred  crowns." 
Usselinx's  abuse  was  of  no  avail,  however,  for  the 
modified  charter  was  adopted  despite  his  opposition, 
and  the  demand  for  shares  in  the  Company,  which 
had  been  rather  lax  before,  was  greatly  increased. 
Nor  is  this  surprising,  for  the  trade  between  New 
Netherland  and  Holland  in  those  days,  especially 
when  compared  with  the  enormous  amount  of  the 
Company's  capital,  was  trifling  indeed.  It  may  well 
be  claimed  that  the  Company  would  have  had  a  very 
brief  and  uneventful  history,  had  it  not  been  for  the 
two  features  in  question.  I  doubt  whether  the  Dutch 
West  India  Company  would  ever  have  settled  New 
York,  and  still  more  whether  it  would  have  been  able 
to  sustain  the  infant  colony,  had  it  not  been  for  them. 
One  year  a  dividend  of  75  per  cent  was  declared  on  the 
six  million  gulden  capital,  in  consequence  of  the  cap 
ture  of  the  Spanish  silver  fleet.  I  have  already  cited 
the  clause  from  an  official  letter  showing  that  the  Jews 
were  heavily  interested  in  the  company's  stock.  I 
may  add  that  Menasseh  ben  Israel  in  his  "Humble 
Address  to  Cromwell,"  states  that  "the  Jews  were 
enjoying  a  good  part  of  the  (Dutch)  East  and  West 
India  Companies."  Judge  Daly  is  furthermore  author 
ity  for  the  statement  that  the  Company  had  several 


INTRODUCTION  XVI I 

Jewish  directors.  It  seems  to  me  to  be  a  very  reason 
able  supposition  that  Jews  were  among  the  projectors 
of  the  Company,  for  it  could  only  have  been  to  their 
own  co-religionists  that  the  Brazilian  Jews  would 
have  communicated  their  proffers  of  aid  in  case  of  a 
Dutch  attack  on  Brazil,  for  they  were  living  in  Brazil 
under  the  guise  of  New  Christians,  and  would  not 
have  ventured  to  expose  themselves  to  any  but 
co-religionists. 

Nor  were  the  promises  of  aid  on  the  part  of  the 
Brazilian  Jews  idle  and  untrustworthy,  Usselinx  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding.  In  De  Beauchamp's 
Histoire  du  Bresil  II  p.  159  and  in  Southey's  History 
of  Brazil  (Second  edition  I,  pp.  477,  479,  495,  supple 
mental  note  no.  135  and  vol.  II  p.  241)  we  read  that 
before  the  Dutch  fleet  directed  against  Brazil  put  to 
sea,  the  States  General  obtained  most  useful  in  forma 
tion  as  to  the  condition  of  affairs  in  Brazil  through 
the  intermediation  of  Jews  who  were  settled  there,, 
and  who  nearly  all  ardently  desired  to  become  sub 
jects  of  the  United  States  because  of  their  great  toler- 
atiou  in  religious  matters. 

Unfortunately  for  these  Jews,  the  first  Dutch  occu 
pation  of  Brazil  was  short-lived,  and  their  fate  when 
the  Portuguese  regained  control  was  such  as  we  have 
elsewhere  stated.  When  the  Dutch  again  came  into 
power  those  that  had  escaped  death  again  threw  off  the 
guise  of  Christians  and  lived  avowedly  as  Jews,  until 
by  the  terms  of  the  first  Dutch  capitulation  in  1654, the 
Portuguese  again  became  the  masters.  By  the  express 
terms  of  the  capitulation,  the  Portuguese  promised 
the  Jews  "an  amnesty,  in  all  wherein  they  could 
promise  it,"  words  which  left  an  ominous  latitude  for 
intolerance.  That  very  year,  a  party  of  Jews  left 
Bahiaand  took  passage  in  the  ship  St.  Catrina,  which 
arrived  soon  after  in  New  Amsterdam.  It  is  with 


INTRODUCTION 


their  history  and  that  of  their  co-religionists  who  sub 
sequently  followed  their  example  in  settling  in  North 
America,  that  Judge  Daly's  work  deals. 

M.J.  K. 


THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  JEWS  IN 
NORTH  AMERICA, 


THE  SETTLEMENT  OF  THE  JEWS  IN 
NORTH  AMERICA. 


When  I  consented  to  comply  with  the  request  made, 
that  I  would  address  the  audience  assembled  here 
this  evening,  it  occurred  to  me,  that  an  occasion  so 
interesting  as  the  celebration  of  the  fiftieth  anniver 
sary  of  the  oldest  benevolent  institution  established 
by  people  of  the  Jewish  persuasion  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  would  be  an  appropriate  one,  upon'  which  to 
give  some  account  of  the  first  settlement  of  thejewish 
people  in  this  city,  and  of  their  early  history .  The 
facts,  so  far  as  I  am  aware,  have  never  been  collected 
and  put  in  any  narrative  form.  Our  local  or  state 
histories  contain  very  little  upon  the  subject.  Even 
our  latest  and  fullest  historian,  Mr.  Brodhead,  men 
tions,  I  think,  but  two  circumstances  in  connection 
with  a  people  who  have  dwelt  upon  this  island  for 
more  than  .two  centuries,  and  who,  though  not,  until 
a  recent  period,  very  numerous,  have,  as  an  integral 
portion  of  our  population,  exercised  a  very  material 
influence  upon  the  commercial  development  and  pros 
perity  of  this  city. 

Having  given  much  attention  to  our  early  annals, 
and  having  had  occasion  very  frequently  to  consult  the 
documents  and  records,  which  constitute  the  material, 
from  which  our  municipal  history  is  derived,  I  shall 
be  enabled  to  put  together  with  but  little  effort  the 
information  they  supply  of  the  first  settlement  of 
people  of  the  Jewish  faith  in  this  city  and  of  what  is 
known  respecting  them  here  for  at  least  the  first  cen 
tury  and  a  half.  In  commencing  this  inquiry,  it  may 
gratify  those  present  to  be  able  to  state,  and  especially 
upon  the  semi-centennial  of  this  benevolent  institu- 


2  JEWS    IN   NORTH   AMERICA 

• 

lion,  that  one  of  the  earliest  documents,  showing  the 
existence  here  of  people  of  the  Jewish  persuasion, .is 
the  record  of  an  act  of  benevolence  on  the  part  of  a 
Jew  to  a  friendless  Christian  stranger,  and  certainly 
the  history  of  no  people  in  any  place  can  begin  with 
an  incident  more  creditable  to  them  than  the  exercise 
of  that  charity  which  is  limited  to  no  sect  or  creed — 
which  recognizes  but  two  things,  the  existence  of 
want  and  the  ability  to  relieve  it. 

It  is  no  doubt  known  to  many  here,  that  this  city 
was  founded  by  the  Dutch  and  that  for  the  first  half 
century  of  its  existence  it  was  in  possession  of  and 
governed  by  people  from  Holland.  The  first  Jewish 
emigration  occurred  during  this  period,  and  it  may 
be  of  interest  to  give  some  account  of  the  circum 
stances  which  led  to  it. 

It  occurs  in  the  wise  purpose  of  the  Great  Ruler  of 
the  Universe,  that  calamitous  events  are  not  infre 
quently  accompanied  by  other  events,  which  mitigate 
the  force  of  the  calamity  and  prevent  its  occurrence 
thereafter.  No  event  has  proved  moie  beneficial  to 
the  Jewish  people  than  the  discovery  of  America,  and 
yet  the  very  year  that  it  occurred  was  1492,  the  year 
of  the  commencement  of  the  terrible  persecution  of 
the  Jews  in  Europe,  which  led  to  their  expulsion 
from  France,  Spain  and  Portugal,  an  event  in  its 
immediate  effects  more  disastrous  to  them  than  even 
the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Spain,  the  chief  agent 
in  that  terrible  work  and  the  most  intolerant  and 
cruel  of  the  nations  of  Europe,  having,  during  her 
despotic  rule  afterwards  in  the  Low  Countries, under 
taken  to  crush  out  there  all  freedom  of  opinion,  en 
countered  a  spirit  of  resistance  on  the  part  of  the 
brave  descendants  of  those  Batavian  tribes  that  had 
rescued  Holland  from  the  sea,  which  culminated  in 
that  great  political  event  in  1572,  known  as  the 


JEWS    IN    NORTH   AMERICA  3 

Revolt  of  the  Netherlands.  The  famous  union  of 
Utrecht  was  followed  by  the  noble  declaration  of 
William  the  Silent,  upon  being  installed  as  Stadhol- 
der  in  1581,  that  "he  should  not  suffer  any  man  to  be 
called  to  account,  molested  or  injured  for  his  faith 
and  conscience,"  and  when  by  the  Truce  of  Antwerp 
in  1609,  the  freedom  of  the  Netherlands  was  assured, 
the  Dutch  signalized  their  independence  by  throwing 
open  their  country  to  the  persecuted  of  all  sects  and 
nations.  Among  the  earliest  to  avail  themselves  of 
this  place  of  reiuge  were  the  Jews,  and  persons  of 
that  persuasion  flocked  in  from  Spain,  Portugal,  Ger 
many  and  Poland,  settling  in  the  free  cities  of  Hol 
land  and  especially  in  the  commercial  city  of  Amster 
dam.  Amsterdam  presented  the  spectacle  of  a  city 
where  all  religions  were  tolerated,  and  where  men  of 
all  shades  of  political -opinion  found  themselves  se 
cure  in  their  persons  and  property.  By  a  writer  of 
that  day  it  was  stigmatized  as  "a  common  harbor  of 
all  opinions  and  of  all  heresies."  By  another,  in  the 
figurative  language  then  in  fashion,  "as  a  cage  of  un 
clean  birds,"  and  even  Andrew  Marvel,  the  friend  of 
Milton  and  the  incorruptible  patriot,  wrote  a  derisive 
poem  upon  Holland,  in  which  Amsterdam  was  de 
scribed  with  its  mixed  population  of  "Turk,  Chris 
tian,  Pagan,  Jew,"  its  "bank  of  conscience,"  where 
"all  opinions  found  credit  and  exchange;''  closing  his 
poem  with  a  line,  which  he  certainly  meant  in  no 
spirit  of  compliment: 

"  The  universal  church  is  only  there.'' 

Among  the  Jewish  emigrants  who  then  flocked  into 
Holland,  the  most  numerous  and  the  most  cultivated 
were  the  Jews  from  Portugal,  many  of  them  coming 
from  Leira,  a  town  in  the  province  of  Estramadura, 
which  enjoys  the  honor  of  being  the  third  place  in 


4  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

Europe  in  which  a  printing  press  was  set  up,  the  com 
mercial  progress  and  prosperity  of  which  was  due  in  a 
large  measure  to  its  highly  intelligent  and  industri 
ous  Jewish  population  as  its  decline  may  be  attributed 
to  their  expatriation  and  expulsion.  The  Portuguese 
Jews  settled  chiefly  in  Amsterdam,  where  they  were 
distinguished  by  their  industry,  energy,  intelligence 
and  probity,  and  here  at  this  period,  1632,  the  phil 
osopher  Spinoza,  the  child  of  two  of  these  Jewish 
emigrants,  was  born. 

The  tolerant  spirit  of  Holland  found  its  fruits  in 
the  rapid  advance  of  the  Dutch  in  all  commercial 
pursuits.  A  distinction  was  made  in  favor  of  the  Re 
formed  Protestant  faith,  which  was  by  law  the  estab 
lished  religion,  bill  all  others  were  tolerated.  Though 
the  position  of  the  Jews  in  Holland  was  in  marked 
contrast  with  every  other  part  of  Europe,  they  were 
not  entirely  free  from  restrictions.  They  were  by 
law  forbidden  to  write  or  speak  disparagingly  of  the 
Christian  religion,  or  to  make  converts.  They  were 
not  allowed  to  intermarry  with  Christians,  nor  to 
follow  any  mechanical  pursuit,  or  to  engage  in  retail 
trade,  but  were  in  all  other  respects  admitted  to  full 
political  privileges  with  the  rest  of  their  fellow-citi 
zens. 

They  were  at  first  required  to  exercise  the  rites  of 
their  religion  within  the  privacy  of  their  own  houses, 
or  at  least  in  houses  not  having  the  outward  appear 
ance  of  religious  edifices.  This  restriction  was  re 
moved  when  Louis  Napoleon,  the  brother  of  Napo 
leon  I, became  King  of  Holland;  and  when  I  was  in 
Amsterdam  twenty  years  ago,  the  Portuguese  Syna 
gogue  there  was  regarded  as  one  of  the  finest  in  Eur 
ope.  It  was  certainly  more  imposing  than  the  one  I 
visited  in  Leghorn,  then  said  to  be  the  largest  on 
the  Continent;  but  both  were  interesting  in  my 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  5 

eyes  as  early  monuments  of  entire  religious  freedom. 
The  Jews  of  Amsterdam,  through  their  capacity  for 
business,  their  energy  and  their  integrity,  became 
wealthy  and  influential,  and  were  shareholders  to  a 
large  amount  in  the  West  India  Company,  the  com 
mercial  corporation  by  which  the  City  of  New  York 
was  founded.  This  body,  though  ostensibly  incorpor 
ated  to  promote  the  settlement  of  new  countries  and 
for  the  general  purpose  of  traffic,  was  in  reality  organ 
ized  to  secure  pecuniary  gain  through  the  capture  of 
the  richly  laden  Spanish  vessels,  and  by  the  seizure 
of  the  Spanish  and  Portuguese  possessions  in 
the  West  Indies  and  South  America.  In  fact,  the 
States  General,  as  one  of  the  means  of  crippling 
Spain, acquiesced  in  the  exercise  by  this  corporation  of 
the  warlike  powers  of  a  nation  and  it  had  at  one  time 
no  less  than  seventy  armed  vessels  in  its  service.  Its 
object  in  founding  New  York  was  not  the  establish 
ment  of  a  city  upon  the  banks  of  the  Hudson,  but  to 
have  a  haven  for  its  vessels  there  in  connection  with 
a  more  extended  field  of  operations  in  the  West  Indies 
and  South  America.  In  1630  Bahia  or  St.  Salvador? 
then  the  capital  of  Brazil,  was  captured  by  its  fleet 
and  from  that  time  to  1642,  its  career  was  one  of  con 
quest  in  Brazil.  Bahia  was  then,  as  it  is  still,  a  place 
of  great  maritime  importance,  and  when  the  West 
India  Company  threw  open  the  trade  of  Brazil  in 
1638,  the  Portuguese  Jews  of  Amsterdam  emigrated 
to  Bahia  in  considerable  numbers,  to  which  they 
were  attracted  not  only  by  the  advantage  of  trade, 
but  as  the  capital  of  a  country  where  they  could  speak 
their  native  language,  and  under  Dutch  rule  enjoy 
entire  freedom  of  religion.  "They  proved  to  be," 
says  Southey,(i) "excellent  colonists,  exhibiting  their 

i.  Southey,  History  of  Brazil,  Vol  I  p.  644. 


6  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

characteristic  industry.''  Upon  the  settlement  in 
Bahia  and  other  parts  of  Brazil,  many  Portuguese 
there,  he  says,  threw  off  the  mask  and  joined  their 
co-religionists.  _J'The  open  joy,"  he  further  observes, 
"with  which  they  celebrated  their  religious  rites  and 
ceremonies  attracted  too  much  notice.  The  public 
exercise  of  their  religion  excited  the  horror  of  the 
Catholics,  and  as  the  Dutch  Protestants  united  with 
the  Catholics,  the  government  was  constrained  to  de 
clare  that  the  religious  liberty  allowed  in  Holland  did 
not  extend  to  Brazil,  and  an  edict  was  passed  requir 
ing  the  Jews  to  perform  their  religious  rites  and  ser 
vices  thereafter  in  private." 

After  1642,  the  power  of  the  Dutch  in  Brazil  was 
gradually  weakened.  Its  possession  exhausted  the 
resources  of  the  West  India  Company,  and  as  the 
government  of  Holland  had  made  peace  with  Portu 
gal  and  would  not  support  the  company  in  its  efforts 
to  retain  their  possession,  they  were  compelled  to 
withdraw  their  troops  and  evacuate  the  country.  We 
find  that  the  year  when  this  took  place,  1654,  was  the 
year  of  the  first  arrival  of  Jews  in  the  city  of  New 
York,  or,  as  it  was  then  called  New  Amsterdam,  and 
they  came  beyond  any  doubt  from  Bahia,  abandon 
ing  Brazil  when  it  was  evacuated  by  their  Dutch  pro 
tectors.  Twenty-seven  persons,  men,  women  and 
children,  (2)  arrived  here  in  the  autumn  of  1654,  in 
the  barque  St.  Catariua,  of  which  Jacques  de  la 
Motthe  was  master, from  Cape  St.  Anthony,  or  as  the 
Portuguese  call  it,  San  Antonio;  Cape  St.  Anthony 
being  the  projection  of  land  which  forms  one  side  of 
the  Bay  of  Bahia  and  occupies  the  space  between  the 
city  and  the  ocean.  Their  departure  appears  to  have 
been  sudden,  for  upon  their  arrival  here,  their  goods 


2.  V.  M.  1849  p.  383,  Ed.  1860,  p.  615. 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  7 

were  sold  by  the  master  of  the  vessel  at  public  auction 
for  the  payment  of  their  passage  and  the  amount 
realized  by  the  sale  being  insufficient,  he  applied  to 
the  Court  of  Burgomaster  and  Schepens  for  an  order 
that  one  or  two  of  them,  as  principals,  be  held  as 
security  for  the  payment  of  the  balance  in  accordance 
with  the  contract  made  with  him  by  which  each  per 
son  signing  it  had  bound  himself  for  the  payment  of 
the  whole  amount,  and  under  which  he  had  taken 
two  of  them,  David  Israel  and  Moses  Ambrosius,  as 
principal  debtors.  The  Court  accordingly  ordered 
that  they  should  be  placed  under  civil  arrest,  in  the 
custody  of  the  provost  marshal  until  they  should 
have  made  satisfaction,  that  the  captain  should  be 
answerable  for  their  support  whilst  in  custody,  as 
security  for  which  a  certain  proportion  of  the  proceeds 
of  the  sale  of  the  goods  was  directed  to  be  left  in  the 
hands  of  the  Secretary  of  the  colony  (3),but  as  no  fur- 


3.     The  official  account  of  the  matter  reads  as  follows: 
"  Extraordinary  Meeting,  hnlden  on 

Wednesday,  the  i6th  September,  1654, 
Present,  At  the  City  Hall, 

The  Heeren, 

Arent  Van  Halten, 
M   Krigier. 
Pietrr  Wolfertsen, 
Oloff  Stevenson  and 
Cornells  Van  Tienhoven. 
Jacques  de  la  Molthe.master  of  the  Bark  called  St.Catrina,  Plaintiff 

contra 

David  Israel  and  the  other  Jews,  according  to  their  signatures,  Defts. 
Touching  the  ballance  of  the  payment  of  the  passage  of 
the  said  Jews,  for  which  each  is  bound  in  Solidum,  Whereas, 
their  goods  sold  thus  far  by  vendue,  do  not  amount  to  the  payment 
of  their  obligation,  it  is,  therefore,  requested  that  one  or  two  of  the 
said  Jews  be  taken  as  principle  (principals??)  which,  according 
to  the  aforesaid  contract  or  obligation,  cannot  be  refused.  There 
fore  he  haih  taken  David  Israel  and  Moses  Ambrosius  as  principal 
debtors  for  the  remaining  balance,  with  request  that  the  same  be 
placed  in  confinement  until  the  account  be  paid. 


8  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

tner  proceedings  appear  upon  the  records,  the  matter 
was  doubtless  arranged  and  was  probably  nothing 
more  than  a  dispute  or  misunderstanding  between 
them  and  the  captain  as  to  whether  they  were  bound 
to  make  good  the  deficiency,  which  was  probably  en 
hanced  by  the  forced  sale  of  their  effects  at  auction. 
From  these  proceedings  I  infer  that  they  left  Brazil 
hastily,  taking  with  them  what  effects  they  could,  the 
evacuation  of  the  country  by  the  Dutch  leaving  them 
without  protection,  and  the  apprehension  of  persecu 
tion  leading  them  to  seize  the  earliest  opportunity  to 
get  within  the  friendly  shelter  of  a  Dutch  colony. 
This  event  is  one  of  interest,  as  it  was  in  all  proba 
bility  the  first  arrival  of  people  of  the  Jewish  persua 
sion  within  the  limits  of  what  is  now  the  United 
States.  (4) 

Whatever  may  have  been  the  disposition  of  the 
inhabitants  to  the  newcomers,  the  feeling  of  the 
Governor,  Stuyvesant,  was  hostile.  He  was  a  man 
of  strong  will  and  of  strong  prejudices,  and  shortly 
after  their  arrival,  he  wrote  to  the  directors  in  Ams- 

The  Court  having  weighed  the  petition  of  the  plaintiff,  and  seen 
the  obligation  wherein  each  is  bound  in  Solidum  for  the  full  pay 
ment,  have  consented  to  the  plaintiff's  request,  to  place  the  afore 
said  persons  under  civil  arrest  (namely  with  the  Provost  Marshal) 
until  they  shall  have  made  satisfaction,  provided,  that  he,  La 
Motthe,  shall  previously  answer  for  the  board,  which  is  fixed  at  16 
stivers  per  diem  for  each  prisoner;  and  is  ordered,that  for  this  pur 
pose  40  —  50  guilders,  proceeding  trom  the  goods  sold,  shall  remain 
in  the  hands  of  the  Secretary,  together  with  the  expenses  of  this 
special  court.  Done  in  New  Amsterdam  in  New  Netherland.1' 
Valentine's  Manual  for  1849,  pai>e  383, — EDITOR. 

4.  This  statement  has  been  rendered  rather  doubtful,  as  it 
appears  from  a  paper  recently  read  before  the  American  Jewish. 
Historical  Society  by  Mr.  Jacob  H.  Hollander  of  Baltimore  on 
•'John  Lumbrozo,"that  names  that  appear  to  be  pronouncedly  Jew 
ish,  are  found  in  the  Maryland  Annals  a  number  of  years  before 
this  time,  -  EDITOR. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  9 

terdam,  requesting  that  "none  of  the  Jewish  nation 
be  permitted  to  infest  New  Netherland."  The  an 
swer  was  worthy  of  Holland — that  his  request  "was 
inconsistent  with  reason  and  justice."  (5)  In  fact, 
the  company  were  favorable  to  the  emigration  of 
Jews  to  their  newly  acquired  possession  in  America. 
Not  only,  as  I  have  said,  were  the  Jews  of  Amster 
dam  large  stockholders  of  the  company,  (6)  but  sev 
eral  of  that  persuasion  were  in  the  Board  of  Direc 
tors.  In  1652,  a  tract  of  land  of  two  leagues  along 
the  coast  for  every  fifty  families,  and  of  four  leagues 
for  every  hundred  families,  was  granted  in  the  island 
of  Curacoa  to  Joseph  Nunez  de  Fonseca,  and  others 
to  found  a  colony  of  Jews  in  that  island.  Fonseca, 
who  was  afterwards  a  merchant  in  Curacoa,  together 
with  one  Jau  cle  Ulan,  who  went  out  as  a  patroon, 
made  the  attempt,  but  it  was  not  successful,  there 


5.  The  instructions  to  Stuyvesant    from  the    Directors  of  the 
Company  were  to  this  effect,  as  contained  in  the  official  records: 

"  26th  of  April,  1655. 

"We  would  have  liked  to  agree  to  your  wishes  and  request,  that 
the  new  territories  should  not  be  further  invaded  by  people  of  the 
Jewish  race,  for  we  foresee  from  such  immigration  the  same 
difficulties  which  you  fear,  but  after  having  further  weighed  and 
considered  the  matter,  we  observe  that  it  would  be  unreasonable 
and  unfair,  especially  because  of  the  considerable  loss  sustained 
by  the  Jews  in  the  taking  of  Brazil,  and  also  because  of  the  large 
amount  of  capital  which  they  have  invested  in  shares  of  this  com 
pany.  After  many  consultations  we  have  decided  and  resolved 
upon  a  certain  petition  made  by  said  Portuguse  Jews,  that  they 
shall  have  permission  to  sail  to  and  trade  in  New  Netherland  and 
to  live  and  remain  there,  provided  the  poor  among  them  shall  not 
become  a  burden  to  the  company,  or  to  the  community,  but  be 
supported  by  their  own  nation.  You  will  govern  yourself  accord 
ingly." — Documents  Relating  to  the  Colonial  History  of  the  State 
of  New  York.  Vol.  XIV,  p.  315.— EDITOR. 

6.  See    Introduction  for  further  details  as  to  this   question. — 
EDITOR. 


10  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

being  not  more  than  twelve  settlers  on  the  tract.  (7) 
Stuyvesaut's  letter,  therefore,  instead  of  producing 
what  he  desired  had  a  very  opposite  effect,  for  it 
stirred  up  the  Jewish  members  of  the  Board  of 
Directors  to  apply  for  distinct  privileges  for  their 
coreligionists,  and  a  special  act  was  issued  on  the 
I5th  of  July,  1655,  expressly  permitting  Jews  to 
trade  to  New  Netherland,  and  to  reside  there 
on  the  simple  condition  only,  that  they  should 
support  their  own  poor;  (8)  a  condition,  it  may 
be  said,  which  they  have  strictly  fulfilled  ever  since, 
for  few,  if  any,  of  their  denomination  have  ever 
in  this  city  been  supported  at  the  public  charge. 

Before  the  intelligence  of  this  act  could  have 
reached  New  Netherland,  an  additional  number  of 
Jews  arrived  here  directly  from  Holland,  who 
probably  came  in  anticipation  of  some  such 
measure,  or  with  the  knowledge  of  the  disposition  of 
the  company.  (9)  Their  arrival  and  a  circumstance 
that  occurred  about  the  same  time,  had  an  unfavor 
able  effect  upon  Stuyvesant,  and  led  him  to  adopt 


7.  See   Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts.     Edited  by  E.  B. 
O'Caliaghan.     Dutch  Manuscripts.     Curacoa  Papers,  pp.  329-330, 
also  Correspondence,  p.  289 — EDITOR. 

8.  I  have  been  unable  to  find  an  order  bearing  this  date;  I  be 
lieve  that  the  one  already  given  (in  Note  5)  is  the  one  in  question, 
for    it   clearly    contains  the    condition  that  the  Jews  shall  provide 
for  their  own  poor. — EDITOR. 

9.  In  a  subsequent  letter,  dated  June    14,  1656,  and  found  in 
Note  No.  ii,  and  also  in  a  petition  by  Abraham  de  Lucena  and 
others  referred  to  in  the  text  and  to  be  found  in  Note  17,  "orders, 
of  Feb.  1 5th,  1655,  issued  at  the  request  of  the  Jewish  or  Portu 
guese  nation,"  are  referred  to.     The  official  records  extant  do  not 
contain  any  order  of  so  early  a  date,  but  if,  as  seems  likely  to  me, 
such  orders  were  issued  but  have  been  lost  since,  the  arrival  of 
these  Dutch  Jews  is  easi'y  accounted  for,  as  being  sanctioned  by 
the  company.   .Their  arrival   is   referred  to  in   the  next   note. — 
EDITOR. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  1 1 

energetic  measures.  On  the  ist  of  March,  1655,  one 
Abraham  De  L,a  Simon  was  brought  before  the  Court 
of  Burgomaster  and  Schepens,  upon  the  complaint  of 
the  Schout  or  Sheriff,  for  keeping  open  his  store  on 
Sunday,  during  the  sermon,  and  selling  at  retail;  the 
complainant  demanding  that  he  should  be  deprived 
of  his  trade,  and  condemned  to  pay  a  fine  of  six  hun 
dred  guilders,  at  that  time  a  very  heavy  sum  to 
impose  upon  any  one  in  the  little  colony.  The 
accused,  not  understanding  the  nature  of  the  charge 
brought  against  him,  a  copy  of  it  in  writing  was 
delivered  to  him  ^ith  instruction  to  appear  upon  the 
next  court  day.  The  Sheriff  then  informed  the  court 
that  the  Governor  and  Council  had  resolved  that  the 
Jews  who  had  come  in  the  preceding  autumn  as  well 
as  those  that  had  recently  arrived  from  Holland, 
must  prepare  to  depart  forthwith;  that  they  would 
receive  notice  thereof,  and  the  Sheriff  asked  if  the 
court,  which  was  also  a  council  for  the  municipal  gov 
ernment  of  the  city,  had  any  objection  to  make; 
whereupon,  says  the  record,  it  was  decided  that  the 
Governor  s  resolution  should  take  its  course.  (10) 

10.  The  following  is  the  record  of  the  hearing: 

''  Monday,  ist  March,  1655. 

In  the  City  Hall 
Present, 

The  Heeren 

Allart  Anthony, 
CHoff  Stevenson, 
Cornelis  Van  Tienhoven, 
Johannes  Ve.rbrug^e, 
Johannes  Nevius, 
Johannes  de  Peyster, 
Jacob  Striker  and 

Van  Vinge. 
Cornells  Van  Tienhoven,  in  quality  of  Sheriff  of  this  City,  Plaintiff, 

vs. 

Abram  De  La  Simon,  a  Jew,  Defendant. 

Plaintiff  rendering  his  demand  in  writing,  saying  that  he,  De  La 
Simon,  hath  kept  his  store  open  during  the  sermon,  and  sold  by 


12  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

This  notice,  I  presume,  was  given, as  some  left,  for 
their  number  appears  to  have  diminished.  Others, 
however,  remained,  the  Governor's  course  being 
arrested  by  the  order  received  from  Holland,  (n) 
Fortunately  for  those  who  departed,  there  was  one 

retail,  as  proved  by  affidavit,  concluding  therefore,  that  Defendant 
shall  be  deprived  of 'his  trade  and  condemned  in  a  fine  of  600 
guilders.  The  charge  having  been  read  before  Defendant,  who 
not  understanding  the  same,  it  was  ordered  that  a  copy  be  given 
Defendant  to  answer  the  same  before  next  Court  Day.  The 
Heer  Cornelis  Van  Tienhoven  informed  the  Burgomaster  and 
Schepens  that  the  Director  General  and  Supreme  Council  have 
resolved  that  the  Jews  who  came  here  last  year  from  the  West 
Indies  and  now  from  Fatherland,  must  prepare  to  depart  forthwith, 
and  that  they  shall  receive'notice  thereof,  and  asked  if  the  Burgo 
master  and  Schepens  had  anything  to  object  thereto.  It  was  de 
cided,  not;  but  that  the  resolution  relating  thereto  should  take  its 
course."— Valentine's  Manual  for  1849,  p.  387. 

Before  this  order  could  be  carried  out,  the  orders  from  Holland 
to  the  contrary  probably  arrived,  as  will  presently  appear.  The 
best  proof  of  this  is  that  the  names  of  all  of  these  early  Jewish 
immigrants  appear  in  the  official  records  frequently  and  con 
tinuously  subsequent  to  the  date  of  this  order. 

I  have  ventured  to  add  the  following  amusing  incident,  also 
bearing  on  the  observance  of  the  Sunday  in  early  New  York, 
which  gives  evidence  of  the  changed  condition  of  affairs  a  century 
and  a  half  later:  "A  story  is  related  of  a  respectable  Jew  at  New 
York,  who,  through  the  malice  of  a  powerful  neighbor,  was  chosen 
constable,  an  office  which  the  former  endeavored  to  be  excused 
from  serving.  The  first  Sunday  of  his  entering  upon  his  office,  he 
seated  himself  on  a  stool  before  his  door,  and  every  servant  that 
went  by  to  fetch  water,  he  took  the  pails  from.  He  also  inter 
rupted,  as  far  as  in  his  power,  every  kind  of  work  on  the  Sabbath 
day,  and  so  annoyed  his  enemy  and  the  rest  of  the  neighborhood 
with  the  severity  of  his  regulations,  that  they  were  glad  to  sub 
stitute  another  in  his  place."— A  Description  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  1807-8,  by  John  Lambert.  Valentine's  Manual  for  1870, 
p.  864.— EDITOR. 

ii.  On  the  I3th  of  March,  1656,  the  Directors  wrote  a  letter 
to  Stuyvesant,  containing  the  following:  "The  permission  given  to 
the  Jews  to  go  to  New  Netherland  and  enjoy  the  same  privileges,  as 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  13 

spot  in  America  where  universal  toleration  was  re 
cognized:  the  little  colony  founded  by  Roger  Wil 
liams  in  Rhode  Island.  A  fugitive  himself  from 
persecution,  Roger  Williams  had  laid  down  as  a 
fundamental  principle  of  his  commonwealth  the 
sanctity  of  conscience;  that  the  civil  magistrate 
should  restrain  crime  but  not  control  opinions;  that 
he  should  punish  guilt  but  never  violate  the  freedom 
of  the  soul — a  doctrine,  says  Bancroft,  which  was  an 
entire  reformation  of  theological  jurisprudence,  and 
gave  equal  protection  to  every  form  of  religious  faith. 
In  1652,  two  years  before  the  arrival  of  these  Jewish 
emigrants,  the  colony  of  Rhode  Island  enacted  that 

they  have  here  (in  Amsterdam),  has  been  granted  only  as  far  as 
civil  and  political  rights  are  concerned,  without  giving  the  said 
Jews  a  claim  to  the  privilege  of  exercising  their  religion  in  a  syna 
gogue  or  a  gathering;  so  long,  therefore,  as  you  receive  no  request 
for  granting  them  this  liberty  of  religious  exercise,  your  considera 
tions  and  anxiety  about  this  matter  aie  premature,  and  when  later 
something  shall  be  said  about  it,  you  can  do  no  better  than  to  refer 
them  to  us,  and  await  the  necessary  order.  Your  next  remark 
concerning  trade  does  not  as  yet  divert  us  from  our  resolution." 

Again,  on  the  I4th  of  June,  1656,  they  wrote:  "We  have  seen 
and  heard  with  displeasure,  that  against  our  orders  of  the  I5th  day 
of  February,  1655,  issued  at  the  request  of  the  Jewish  or  Portu 
guese  nation,  you  have  forbidden  them  to  trade  to  Fort  Orange 
and  the  South  River,  also  the  purchase  of  real  estate,  which  is 
granted  to  them  without  difficulty  here  in  this  country,  and  we 
wish  it  had  not  been  done,  and  that  you  had  obeyed  our  orders, 
which  you  must  always  execute  punctually  and  with  more  respect. 
Jews  or  Portuguese  people,  however,  shall  not  be  employed  in  any 
public  service  (to  which  they  are  neither  admitted  in  this  city),  nor 
allowed  to  have  open  retail  shops,  but  they  may  quietly  and  peace 
fully  carry  on  their  business  as  beforesaid  and  exercise  in  all  quiet 
ness  their  religion  within  their  houses,  for  which  end  they  must 
without  doubt  endeavor  to  build  their  houses  close  together  in  a 
convenient  place  on  one  or  the  other  side  of  New  Amsterdam— at 
their  choice— as  they  have  done  here.'' — Documents  Relating  to 
the  Colonial  History  of  the  State  of  New  York.  Vol.  XIV,  pp. 
341,  35i  respectively.— EDITOR 


14  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

"all  men  of  whatever  nation  soever  they  may  be,  that 
shall  be  received  inhabitants  of  any  of  the  towns,  shall 
have  the  same  privileges  as  Englishmen,  any  law  to 
the  contrary  notwithstanding,"  which  was  both  a 
general  act  of  naturalization  to  all  who  came  within 
that  colony,  as  well  as  a  recognition  of  the  privilege 
of  all  to  the  equal  enjoyment  of  civil  rights. 

It  is  my  impression  that  those  who  departed  went 
to  Rhode  Island.  The  Rhode  Island  historians  say 
(ua)  that  the  Jews  came  to  Newport,  R.  I.,  as  early 
as  1657;  that  they  were  of  Dutch  extraction;  that 
they  came  from  the  island  of  Curacoa;  that  they  were 
not  possessed  of  the  wealth,  intelligence  or  enter 
prise  which  so  eminently  distinguished  those  who 
settled  in  Newport  afterwards,  and  in  the  very  year 
mentioned  by  these  historians,  1657,  an  event  occur 
red  in  Rhode  Island,  which  pointed  it  out  as  the 
place  for  all  who  sought  the  sacred  enjoyment  of  civil 
and  religious  liberty. 

The  persecuted  Quakers  had  full  refuge  there,  and 
the  commissioners  of  the  United  Colonies  remon 
strated  with  the  President  of  that  colony  for  protect 
ing  this  troublesome  sect.  The  answer  given  to  this 
remonstrance  was,  that  "persecution  only  tended  to 
increase  sects,"  and  that  they  had  no  law  in  Rhode 
Island  "for  preventing  any  one  from  declaring  by 
words  their  mind  or  understanding  concerning  the 
ways  or  the  things  of  God,"  one  of  the  noblest 
expositions  ever  given  of  religious  freedom.  From 
these  circumstances  and  the  proximity  of  Rhode 
Island,  I  infer  that  some  of  the  Jewish  emigrants  left 
New  Amsterdam  and  settled  in  Newport,  between 
the  years  1655  and  1657,  and  that  they  were  after 
wards  joined  by  others  who  came  directly  from  Cura- 


ii  a.  Peterson's  History,  of  R.  I.,  p.  181. 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  15 

coa.  There  were  at  that  time  vessels  trading  be 
tween  Curacoa  and  New  Amsterdam,  and  as  the 
scheme  for  a  Jewish  colony  at  the  former  place  had, 
after  two  years  of  time,  proved  abortive,  and  the 
affairs  of  the  island  were  otherwise  not  prosperous, 
the  probability  is  that  some  of  the  Jews,  who  had 
gone  out  there,  left,  and  coming  as  they  naturally 
would  on  the  return  passage  to  New  Amsterdam,  and 
being  there  informed  of  the  advantages  presented  by 
Rhode  Island,  that  they  joined  their  coreligionists  in 
that  colony,  and  with  those  previously  there,  became 
the  nucleus  of  the  wealthy  and  influential  Jewish 
community,  which  continued  to  expand  and  flourish 
in  Newport  until  some  time  after  the  American 
revolution. 

Of  the  Jews  who  remained  in  New«York,  then 
called  New  Amsterdam,  the  most  prominent  or  lead 
ing  man  appears  to  have  been  Abraham  D'Lucena, 
as  his  name  generally  appears  first  in  the  several 
applications  made  in  behalf  of  himself  and  his 
brethren  to  Stuyvesant's  government.  In  July,  1655, 
he  applied,  with  several  others,  for  a  burying  ground, 
but  the  request  was  rudely  refused,  the  reply  being, 
"that  there  was  no  need  for  it  yet."  (12)  Death, 
however,  says  O'Callaghan,  soon  removed  this 
excuse,  and  on  the  i4th  of  July,  1656,  a  lot  was 
granted  to  them  on  the  outside  of  the  city  "for  a 
place  of  interment. "  The  exact  place  outside  the 
city,  where  the  first  burial  place  of  the  Jewish  race 
in  North  America  was,  has  not  been  positively  ascer 
tained.  It  is  my  impression,  for  reasons  that  will  be 


12.  Calendar   of    Historical    Manuscripts.     Edited    by   E.    B, 
O'Callaghan.     Dutch    Manuscripts.     Council   Minutes,  p.   150. 

Burial  ground  granted,  Feb.  22d,  1656.     Do.  p.  160,  O'Callag- 
han's  date  seems  erroneous. — EDITOR. 


1 6  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

stated  hereafter,  that  it  was  on  the  side  of  a  ridge  of 
elevated  ground  near  the  southerly  side  of  the  pres 
ent  site  of  Oliver  Street,  west  of  Madison  and  near 
Heniy  Street. 

At  the  period  1655,  tne  position  of  the  city  was 
perilous.  It  was  exposed  to  attacks  from  Spanish 
cruisers  and  pirates,  and  to  assaults  from  the  Indians, 
who  had  been  badly  treated  by  the  Dutch  governors, 
and  were  enemies.  The  encroachments  of  the  Eng 
lish,  moreover,  in  Long  Island  and  Westchester,  was 
the  subject  of  constant  anxiety,  England  never  hav 
ing  conceded  the  right  of  the  Dutch  to  settle  New 
Netherlaud,  and  there  was  an  apprehension  of  what 
afterwards  occurred,  the  capture  of  the  place  by  the 
English.  This  being  the  state  of  things,  all  the  male 
inhabitants,,  capable  of  bearing  arms,  were  enrolled 
in  what  was  called  the  Burgher  Guard,  for  the  pro 
tection  and  defence  of  the  city,  and  a  watch  was 
kept  up  night  and  day  with  the  steadiness  and  vigil 
ance  of  a  beleaguered  town.  A  few  months  after  the 
arrival  of  these  Jewish  emigrants,  the  question  arose 
whether  the  adult  males  among  them  should  be 
incorporated  in  the  Burgher  Guard ;  the  officer  of  the 
guard  submitting  the  question  to  the  Governor  and 
Council.  It  was  duly  deliberated  upon  and  an  ordi 
nance  was  passed  which,  after  reciting  the  unwilling 
ness  "of  the  mass  of  the  citizens"  to  be  fellow-soldiers 
"of  the  aforesaid  nation,'1  or  watch  in  the  same  guard 
house,  and  the  fact  that  the  Jews  in  Holland  did  not 
serve  in  the  trainbands  of  the  cities,  but  paid  a  com 
pensation  for  their  exemption  therefrom,  declared 
that  they  should  be  exempt  from  this  military  ser 
vice,  and  that  for  such  exemption  each  male  person 
between  the  ages  of  16  and  60  should  pay  a  monthly 
contribution  of  sixty-five  stivers.  (13) 

13.  Resolution  to  exempt  the  Jews  from  military  service,  28th 
of  August,  (1655): 


JEWS    IN    NORTH   AMERICA  17 

This  was  not  absolute,  and,  accordingly,  two  of 
them,  Jacob  Barsimson  and  Asser  Levy,  petitioned 
to  be  allowed  to  stand  guard  like  the  other  burgjiers, 
or  to  be  relieved  from  the  tax  imposed  upon  their 
nation,  which  was  refused  by  the  Governor  and 
Council  with  the  curt  addition,  that  "they  might  go 
elsewhere  if  they  liked."  (14)  Neither  of  them,  how- 

The  Captains  and  officers  of  the  trainbands  of  this  city  having 
asked  the  Director  General  and  Council,  whether  the  Jewish  people, 
who  reside  in  this  city,  should  also  train  and  mount  guard  with 
the  citizens'  bands,  this  was  taken  in  consideration  and  deliberated 
upon:  first  the  disgust  and  unwillingness  of  these  trainbands  to  be 
fellow-soldiers  with  the  aforesaid  nation  and  to  be  on  guard  with 
them  in  the  same  guard  house,  and  on  the  ether  side,  that  the  said 
nation  was  not  admitted  or  counted  among  the  citizens,  as  regards 
trainbands  or  common  citizens'  guards,  neither  in  the  illustrious  City 
of  Amsterdam  nor  (to  our  knowledge)  in  any  city  in  Netherland,  but 
in  order  that  the  said  nation  may  honestly  be  taxed  for  their  freedom 
in  that  respect,  it  is  directed  by  the  Director  General  and  Council 
to  prevent  further  discontent,  that  the  aforesaid  nation  shall, 
according  to  the  usages  of  the  renowned  City  of  Amsterdam, 
remain  exempt  from  the  general  training  and  guard  duty,  on  con 
dition  that  each  male  person  over  16  and  under  60  years  contribute 
for  the  aforesaid  freedom  towards  the  relief  of  the  general  muni 
cipal  taxes  65  stivers  [$1.30]  every  month,  and  the  military  council 
of  the  citizens  is  hereby  authorized  and  charged  to  carry  this  into 
effect  until  our  further  orders,  and  to  collect  pursuant  to  the  above, 
the  aforesaid  contribution  once  in  every  month,  and  in  case  of 
refusal,  to  collect  it  by  legal  process.  Thus  done  in  Council  at 
Fort  Amsterdam,  on  the  day  as  above. 
(It  was  signed): 

P.  Stuyvesant, 
Nicasius  De  Sille, 
Cornelis  Van  Tienhoven. 

(Vol.  XII,  p.  96,  Documents  Relating  to  Colonial  History, 
etc.) — EDITOR 

14.  Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts.  Do.  Council  Minutes, 
p.  151.  November  5,  1655. 

Asser  Levy's  name  appears  more  frequently,  probably,  than  that 
of  any  other  Jewish  settler  of  this  time,  in  the  official  records.  He 


1 8  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

ever,  had  any  such  disposition,  for  Barsimson's  name 
appears  subsequently  as  a  litigant  in  the  courts,  and 
Asser  Levy,  who  was  a  butcher,  became  afterwards 
a  prominent  man  in  the  colony,  and  was  distin 
guished  from  the  beginning  for  the  pertinacity  with 
which  he  insisted  upon  the  rights  of  himself  and  his 
brethren. 

In  December  of  the  same  year,  1655,  one  of  their 
number,  Salvator  D'Andrada,  who  was  also  a  mer 
chant,  purchased  at  auction  a  house  and  lot  in  the 
city,  but  when  he  came  to  pay  the  purchase  money, 
an  objection  was  raised  as  to  his  right  to  acquire  and 
hold  real  estate.  He  accordingly  petitioned  the 
Governor  and  council,  praying  that  he  might  be 
allowed  to  take  a  deed,  being  ready  to  pay  the  pur 
chase  money.  His  application  was  refused  for,  says 
the  record,  "pregnant  reasons."  The  owner  then 
petitioned  that  he  might  be  allowed  to  convey  his 
house  and  lot  to  D'Audrada,  or,  if  not  that  the  Gov 
ernor  and  council  would  take  it  in  virtue  of  their 
right  of  pre-emption,  and  pay  the  price.  But  this 
was  also  refused,  the  sale  was  declared  void  and  the 
property  was  afterwards  sold  to  another  person.  (15) 

Abraham  D'Lucena,  then,  together  with  four  of 
his  brethren,  presented  March  i4th,  1656,  a  formal 
petition,  setting  forth  that  they  and  their  coieligion- 
ists  were  assessed  the  same  as  other  citizens,  and 

seems  to  have  been  extremely  active  and  to  have  held  even  certain 
public  offices.  A  long  article  of  interest  can  be  written  about  him 
alone.— EDITOR. 

15.     Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts  do.  pp.  156,  1 57. 

By  the  order  of  the  I4th  of  June,  1656,  from  the  Directors  to 
Stuyvesant  (see  Note  11),  the  Jews  were  expressly  given  permis 
sion  to  own  real  estate,  and  Stuyvesant  was  censured  for  having 
prevented  them  from  so  doing.  Subsequently  to  this,  they  seem 
to  have  had  no  difficulties  about  this  matter. — EDITOR, 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  19 

asking  that  they  should  have  in  common  with  others 
the  same  right  to  trade  and  to  hold  real  estate, 
according  to  the  act  of  the  Amsterdam  directors  of 
February  i%5th,  1655.  (l6)  They  were  not  only  as 
sessed  with  the  other  tax-paying  inhabitants,  but, 
as  appears  from  the  records,  very  heavily,  at  least 
those  mentioned  in  the  petition.  In  the  preceding 
year,  1655,  a  tax  was  imposed  to  defray  the  cost  of 
erecting  the  outer  fence,  or  city  wall,  from  which 
the  present  Wall  Street  takes  it  name.  For  this  these 
five  petitioners  were  assessed  each  1,000  florins,  being 
the  same  amount  imposed  upon  the  wealthiest  of  the 
citizens,  and  two-thirds  of  the  amount  assessed  upon 
the  Governor,  as  the  representative  of  the  company, 
showing  that  they  were  either  among  the  wealthiest 
of  the  inhabitants,  or  were  very  unequally  taxed. 

Abm.  D' Lucena,  then  and  for  many  years  after 
wards  a  merchant  in  the  city,  together  with  several 
of  his  brethren,  put  goods  on  board  a  ship  bound  for 
the  Delaware  river,  claiming  that  under  the  Act  of 
the  Amsterdam  Chamber  of  Feb.  iSth,  1655,  they 
had  a  general  right  to  trade,  and  on  the  agth  of 
November,  1655,  they  petitioned  the  Governor  that 
they  might  have  the  right  to  trade  to  the  Delaware, 

16.  Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts  do.  p.  162.  The  names 
of  the  petitioners  were:  Abraham  de  Lucena,  Jacob  Cohen 
Henricque,  Salvator  Dandrada,  Joseph  D'Coster  and  David  Frera, 
The  Directors  and  Council  answered  that  they  awaited  further 
instructions  from  Holland,  which  were  received  soon  after  in  the 
letter  of  I4th  June,  1656,  mentioned  in  the  last  note  and  found  in 
Note  ii. 

The  assessment  list  may  be  found  in  Valentine's  History  of  the 
City  of  New  York,  pp.  315-8.  It  includes  the  following  names 
and  amounts  in  currency  of  the  present  day:  Abraham  La  Cuya, 
(Lucena?),  §40;  Joseph  d'Costar,  $40;  David  Frera,  $40;  Fusilador 
Dandrade,  $40;  Jacob  Cowyn,  $40;  Jacob  Barsimson,  $3.— 
EDITOR. 


20  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

(the  Southriver)  and  to  Albany,  (Fort  Orange). 
The  privilege  to  trade  as  requested  was  refused, 
but  they  were  allowed  to  forward  the  gocds  they  had 
shipped,  with  the  understanding,  however,  that  it 
was  not  to  be  taken  as  a  precedent  and  their  general 
application  was  referred  "to  Fatherland,"  that  is,  to 
the  Directors  of  the  West  India  Company,  or  the  por 
tion  of  them  known  as  the  Amsterdam  Chamber  (17). 

17.  This  petition  is  found  below,  as  well  as  an  account  of  the 
deliberations  upon  it: 

"To  the  Honorable  Worshipful  Director  General  and  Council  of 
New  Netherlands  sh  nv  with  due  reverence,  (name)  for  themselves 
and  in  the  name  of  others  of  the  Jewish  nation,  residing  in  that 
city,  that  under  date  of  the  icth  of  February,  1655,  they,  the  peti 
tioners,  have  from  the  Honrrable  Lords  Directors  of  the  Inc'rpo- 
rated  West  In-iia  Company,  Masters  and  Patrons  of  the  Province, 
received  permission  and  consent  to  travel,  reside  and  trade  here 
like  the  other  inhabitants  and  enj  iy  the  same  liberties,  which  is 
proved  by  the  document  here  annexed.  They  request  therefore 
respectfully,  that  your  Noble  Worships  will  not  prevent  or  hinder 
them  herein  but  will  allow  and  consent  that,  pursuant  to  their 
permit,  they  may,  with  other  inhabitants  of  this  Province,  travel  to 
and  trade  on  the  South  River  cf  New  Netherland,  at  Fort  Orange 
and  other  places,  situate  within  the  jurisdiction  of  this  Government 
of  New  Netherland.  So  doing  etc.,  they  shall  remain  your  Ncble 
Worships' 

humble  servants, 

Signed,  Abraham  de  Lucena, 

Salvator  Dandrada, 
Jacob  Coen.'' 

After  the  foregoing  petition  had  been  read,  at  the  meeting  of 
the  Director  General  and  Council,  it  was  resolved,  that  each  of 
the  members  of  the  Council  should  give  his  opinion  as  to  what 
answer  is  to  be  made: 

Opinion  of  the  Honorable  Director  General,  Petrus  Stuyvesant: 

"To  answer,  that  the  petition  is  to  be  denied  fur  weighty  reasons." 
Opinion  of  the  Honorable  Nicasius  de  Sille: 

He  says,  that  "he  does  not  like  to  act  herein  contrary  to  the 
orders  of  the  Lords  Directors,  but  that  at  present,  as  they  have  put 
en  board  ship  goods  for  the  Southriver,  permission  might  be 
given  to  them,  and  further  orders  in  answer  to  the  last  letter  sent  to 
the  Lords  Directors,  should  be  awaited." 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  21 

The  constant  hostility  of  Stuyvesant,  and  his  per 
sistent  efforts  to  deprive  them  of  what  they  would 
have  enjoyed  in  Holland,  was  in  itself  a  cause  for 
inducing  others  to  remove  to  Rhode  Island,  and  no 
doubt  did  contribute  to  increase  the  numbers  of  those 
who  settled  in  Newport.  Those  who  remained 
undoubtedly  communicated  to  their  influential 
brethren  in  Holland,  the  treatment  they  continued 
to  receive  at  the  hands  of  Stuyvesant.  For  on  the 
i3th  of  March,  1656,  the  Directors  wrote  to  Stuyve 
sant,  that  the  consent  given  that  they  might  go  to 
New  Netherland  and  enjoy  there  "the  .'same  liberty 
their  nation  enjoyed  in  Holland  included  all  the  civil 

Opinion  of  the  Honorable  Lamontagne. 

"To  answer,  that  for  weighty  reasons,  the  petition  is  denied." 

Opinion  of  the  Honorable  Cornelis  van  Tienhoven,  written  by 
himself: 

"Cornelis  van  Tienhoven  is  of  opinion  under  correction,  that  to 
grant  the  petition  of  the  Jews  for  permission  to  go  to  the  South- 
river  and  Fort  Orange,  although  the  noble  Lords  Directors  had 
allowed  this  nation  to  live  and  trade  in  New  Netherland,  would 
nevertheless  be  very  injurious  to  the  community  and  population  of 
the  said  places,  and  therefore  the  petition  must  be  denied  for  the 
coming  winter,  and  ample  report  be  made  thereon  to  the  Lords 
Directors,  also  that  for  this  time  a  young  man  of  that  nation  may 
be  allowed  to  go  to  the  Southriver  with  some  goods,  without 
thereby  establishing  a  precedent." 

"  Petition  of  Abraham  de  Lucena  and  other  Jews  for  permission 
to  trade  on  the  South  River,  etc.,"  Documents  relating  to  Colonial 
History,  XII.  pp.  117,  118,  2pth  November,  1655. 

This  last  opinion  appears  to  have  been  adopted,  for  an  order  was 
issued  that  "for  weighty  reasons  is  the  request  expressed  in  general 
terms  declined,  but  as  we  are  informed  the  suppliants  have 
embarked  already  some  goods  thither.so  are  they  now  permitted  to 
send  two  persons  towards  Southriver  to  trade  with  them,  and  when 
they  shall  have  disposed  of  their  goods,  then  to  return  hither."— 
Albany  Records,  Vol.  X.,  p.  178,  quoted  in  Hazard's  Annals  of  Pa 
p.  205.  Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts,  etc.,  p.  156.— EDITOR. 


22  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

and  religious  privileges,"  and  when  the  Amsterdam 
Chamber  were  advised  of  the  Governor's  refusal  to 
allow  them  to  trade,  the  Chamber,  June  I4th,  1656, 
expressed  its  dissatisfaction  by  letter  in  very  strong 
terms,  in  these  words:  "We  have  observed  with 
displeasure  that,  contrary  to  our  concessions,  granted 
on  the  1 5th  of  February,  1655,  to  the  Jews  or 
Portuguese  nation,  you  have  forbidden  them  to 
trade  to  Fort  Orange  (18),  and  to  the  South - 
river  (19),  or  to  purchase  real  estate  which  is  here 
allowed  without  any  difficulty,"  and  then,  after 
declaring  their  wish,  that  the  Governor  ought  more 
respectfully  to  follow  their  orders  and  obey  them  ac 
cording  to  their  tenor,  the  letter  added:  "The  Jews 

18.  Shortly  after  this,  on   December  28th,  1655,  we   find   Isaac 
Israel  and  Benjamin  Cardoso  among  the  traders  on  the  Delaware 
w  th  Vice-Director  Jean  Paul  Jacquet.     In  spite  of  the  terms  of  the 
order  in   the  note   above,  or  more   properly  in  consequence  of   the 
letter  from  the   Directors,  no   difficulties  seem  to  have   been  placed 
in  the  way  of  Jews   settling  permanently  here.     In  1663,  we   find 
that  Israel  was  a  member   of  the    High  Council   of  the   Director  of 
the  D.  W.  I.  Go's,  colony   on   the   South   River  (Delaware   River)- 
In  1680,  we   find  a   Mr.  Isaack   and    Richard   Levey   among  the 
responsible  house-keepers  near  the   Delaware  River.     These  facts 
are  of  unusual    interest,  because  they   indicate  that  Jews   settled  in 
the  present  State  of  Delaware  at  New  Castle  and  elsewhere  at  such 
an  early  date.  My  authorities  are  given  at  some  length  in  Appendix 
I.— EDITOR. 

19.  Jews   seemed  to  have  availed   themselves  of   permission  to 
trade  at   Fort  Orange,    (Albany)  at   a  very  early   date.     This  is 
evidenced   by  references  to   Asser  Levy  engaging  in   purchases  of 
merchandise  and  real  estate  in  Albany  in  1661.  See  "Early  Records 
of  the  City  and  County  of  Albany'',  by  J.  Pearson,  pp.  297,  308 
309,  362,  371,  372,  376,  381;  as  appears  from  the  text,  the  family  of 
Asser  Levy,   after   his    death,    settled   on    Long  Island,   making 
another  early  Jewish  settlement. 

In  August,  1678,  we  also  find  Jacob  Lucena  petitioning  for  a  pass 
to  go  to  Albany  and  Esopus  to  trade.— Calendar  of  Historical 
manuscripts. — EDITOR. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  23 

or  Portuguese  nation  are  not,  however,  to  be  at  liberty 
to  exercise  any  handicraft  or  to  keep  any  open  retail 
store,  which  they  cannot  do  in  this  city.  But  they 
shall  pursue  peaceably  and  quietly  their  commerce 
as  aforesaid,  and  be  at  liberty  to  exercise  their  religi 
ous  worship  in  all  quietness  within  their  houses." 

After  the  letter  was  received,  Asser  Levy  applied 
to  the  Court  of  Burgomaster  and  Schepens  to  admit 
him  to  the  right  of  citizenship,  and  exhibited  his 
certificate  to  the  Court  to  show  that  he  had  been  a 
burgher  in  Amsterdam;  but  his  request  was  not  com 
plied  with.  Salvator  D'Andrada,  and  others  also 
made  a  similar  application  (20)  and  were  refused, 
whereupon  they  brought  the  matter  before  the 
Governor  and  Council,  and  as  the  directions  from 
Holland  were  controlling,  an  order  was  made  April 
2ist,  1657,  that  the  Burgomaster  should  admit  them 
to  that  privilege.  Here  the  struggle  virtually  ended, 
and  they  were  no  longer  troubled  during  the  Dutch 
rule.  The  names  of  these  early  emigrants,  so  far  as 
they  can  now  be  gathered  from  the  records,  are  as 
follows:  Abraham  D'Lucena,  David  Israel,  Moses 
Ambrosius,  Abraham  De  La  Simon,  Salvator  D'An 
drada,  Joseph  Da  Costa,  David  Frera,  Jacob  Barsim- 
son,  Jacob  C.  Henricque,  or  as  it  was  sometimes 
written,  Jacob  Cohen,  Isaac  Mesa,  and  Asser  Levy, 
nearly  all  of  whom  would  seem  from  the  names  to 
have  been  of  Portuguese  or  Spanish  origin. 

Abraham  D'Lucena  is  the  person  to  whom  I 
referred  in  the  beginning  in  connection  with  an  act 
of  charity.  A  vessel,  purporting  to  be  a  Spanish 
privateer,  but  commanded  by  a  Dutchman,  captured 
a  Spanish  vessel  upon  the  ocean,  and  brought  the 

20.  The  Market  Book,  p.  50.  Calendar  of  Historical  Manu 
scripts,  etc.,  p.  184. 


24  JEWS    IN    NORTH   AMERICA 

cargo,  consisting  of  twenty-seven  negroes  and  merch 
andise,  to  New  Amsterdam,  where  he  disposed  of 
the  negroes  among  the  inhabitants  in  exchange  for 
other  commodities.  The  owner  of  the  negroes 
applied  to  Holland  for  restitution,  and  the  Dutch 
government  directed  the  authorities  in  New 
Amsterdam,  to  see  that  justice  was  done  to  him.  He 
accordingly  came  out  to  the  colony  but  could  get  no 
satisfaction,  and  through  his  long  waiting  having 
exhausted  his  means,  and  been  reduced  to  a  state  of 
great  destitution,  he  was  supported  for  some  time  by 
the  authorities,  as  he  complained,  in  a  very  insuffici 
ent  manner,  and  Lucena  paid  his  passage  to  enable 
him  to  return  to  Europe.  (21)  A  descendant  of 
Iviicena,  was  living  in  1759,  and  his  son,  as  I  presume 
from  the  name,  Abraham  D' Lucena,  was  the  second 
Jewish  minister  or  preacher  in  the  first  synagogue 
erected  in  this  city. 

The  city  was  captured  by  the  English  in  1664,  and 
its  name  changed  to  New  York.  For  half  a  century 
afterwards,  very  little  is  to  be  found  respecting  the 
Jewish  residents.  Their  increase  in  numbers  was 
very  moderate,  for  the  reason  probably  that  few  of 
their  persuasion  emigrated  to  the  colony,  after  the 
government  passed  into  the  hands  of  the  English.  In 
1683,  an  act  was  passed  by  the  Colonial  *Assembly  for 
the  naturalization  of  foreigners;  but  it  offered  no 
advantage  to  them  as  it  was  limited  to  those  profess 
ing  Christianity.  (22). 

In  1685,  Saul  Brown,  a  merchant  who  had  come 
from  Newport  and  settled  in  New  York,  complained 
to  Governor  Dongan,  by  petition,  that  he  had  been 

21.  The  date  of  this  incident  is  1657.     See  Documents  relating 
to  Colonial  History  of    the   State  of  New  York,  Vol.11.,  p.  39. — 
EDITOR. 

22.  Parker's  Laws  of  New  York,   112. 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  25 

interfered  with  in  his  trade  under  an  existing  muni 
cipal  regulation.  The  Governor  referred  Brown's 
petition  to  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council,  who 
declared  that  no  Jew  could  sell  by  retail  in  the  city, 
but  might  by  wholesale,  if  the  Governor  thought 
fit  to  permit  it.  (23).  There  was  a  previous  regula 
tion  that  none  but  burghers'  or  freemen  could  sell  by 
retail,  and  this  was  equivalent  to  holding  that  no  Jew 
could  become  a  burgher  or  freeman  of  the  city.  The 
privilege  to  sell  by  wholesale,  however,  must  have 
been  conceded  to  Brown,  for  he  was  for  many  years 
afterwards  a  prominent  merchant. 

In  1683,  a  Charter  of  Liberties  and  Privileges  was 
adopted  by  the  colonial  legislature,  which  among 
other  provisions,  declared  that  "no  one  should  be 
molested,  punished,  disquieted,  or  called  in  question 
for  his  religious  opinions,  ^\\o  professed  faith  in  God^ 
by  Jesus  Christ,"  but  that  all  such  persons  should 
"at  all  times  freely  have  and  enjoy  their  judgments 
and  consciences  in  matters  of  religion  throughout  the 
province,''  which  was  extending  religious  freedom  to 
all  but  Jews.  This  Charter  was  regarded  as  a  great 
public  triumph,  and  the  inhabitants  of  the  city  were 
summoned  by  sound  of  trumpet  to  assemble  and  hear 
it  publicly  read  in  front  of  the  City  Hall,  in  presence 
of  all  the  city  and  colonial  authorities. 

Two  years  afterwards,  1685,  the  Jewish  residents, 
who  must  have  heard  a  great  deal  about  the  religious 
freedom  secured  by  this  charter,  petitioned  Governor 
Dongan  "for  liberty  to  exercise  their  religion," 
probably  unaware  that  the  provision  in  the  charter 
did  not  apply  to  them,  or,  perhaps,  supposing  that 
the  Governor  had  power  independent  of  this  pro- 


23.     2  Dunlop,  Appendix  cxxxiv  ,  Booth's  History  of  New  York, 
p.  198,  2  Brod.,  p,  426. 


26  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

vincial  statute.  In  the  formal  written  instructions 
of  James,  Duke  of  York,  afterwards  James  II.,  to 
Governor  Andros,  who  had  succeeded  Dongau,  the 
Governor  was  required  "to  permit  all  persons  of  what 
religion  soever,  quietly  to  inhabit  within  the  govern 
ment,  and  to  give  no  disturbance  or  disquiet  whatso 
ever  for  or  by  reason  of  their  differing  in  matters  of 
religion."  But  this  important  provision  was  left  out 
in  the  written  instructions  to  Governor  Dongan, 
which  may  have  been  the  reason  for  his  adopting  the 
course  which  he  did,  which  was  to  refer  the  petition 
to  the  Mayor  and  Common  Council  of  New  York,  by 
whom  it  was  considered,  and  their  decision  is 
recorded  in  these  words:  "  that  no  public  worship  is 
tolerated  by  act  of  assembly,  but  to  those  that  profess 
faith  in  Christ,  and  therefore  the  Jew's  worship  not 
to  be  allowed." 

When  James,  however,  became  king,  a  new  copy 
of  instructions  was,  in  1686,  sent  out  to  Dongau,  in 
which  this  important  promise  was  re-inserted,  and 
they  may  have  led  to  what  afterwards  took  place, 
for  it  is  certain  that  the  Jews  had  a  synagogue 
as  early  as  1695  and  may  have  it  in  1691,  for  L/a 
Motthe  Cadillac,  in  his  account  of  New  York  in 
1691,  enumerates  the  Jews  as  one  of  the  sects  and 
then  says  that  each  sect  had  its  church  and  free 
dom  of  religion.  (24).  Dongan,  who  was  one  of  the 
best  Governors  the  colony  ever  had,  was  a  very 
liberal-minded  man,  and  it  is  very  probable  that  he 
may,  when  his  new  instructions  came  out  with  this 
clause  restored,  have  granted  to  the  Jewish  residents 
this  privilege  they  asked,  or  it  may,  in  consequence 
of  the  restoration  of  the  particular  clause,  have  been 
conceded  during  the  temporary  rule  of  Leisler,  or  by 

24     Colonial  Documents,  ix.,  549. 


JEWS    IN   NORTH    AMERICA  27 

the  succeeding  Governors,    Sloughter   or   Fletcher. 

(25)- 

The  synagogue  referred  to,  which  I  suppose  to  have 
been  the  first  upon  the  Continent  of  North  America, 
was  on  the  south  side  of  the  present  Beaver  Street, 
in  the  middle  of  the  block,  between  Broadway  and 
Broad  Street.  Its  existence  in  1695  and  its  location 
are  established  by  a. description  of  New  York,  written 
by  the  Rev.  John  Miller,  Chaplain  to  the  English 
garrison,  to  which  description  he  affixed  a  plan  or 
map  of  the  city,  in  which  the  position  of  the  public 
buildings  and  especially  all  the  religious  edifices,  is 
carefully  indicated  as  they  existed  in  1695. 

In  the  text  of  the  work,  Miller  gave  a  tabular  state 
ment  of  the  different  religious  denominations,  the 
number  of  each,  and  the  name  of  the  minister;  from 
which  it  appears  that  the  Jewish  congregation  con 
sisted  of  twenty  families  and  the  name  of  the  minis 
ter  was  Saul  Brown.  This  was  the  merchant  already 
referred  to,  who  in  1685  was  allowed  the  burgher 
privileges  and,  as  he  was  carrying  on  business  in  1685 
as  a  merchant,  and  for  several  years  afterwards,  it  is 
presumed  that  he  was  not  a  regular  minister,  but 
what  is  known  in  Jewish  congregations  as  a  reader. 
The  building  used  as  a  synagogue  must,  from  the 
indications  upon  the  map,  have  been  a  small  one. 


25.  In  the  volume  for  1885  of  the  New  York  Historical  Society 
Collections,  the  names  of  two  Jews,  Isaac  Henriquez  and  Simon 
Bonan,  appear  on  the  rolls  of  Freemen,  in  1687-8  and  others  subse 
quently,  so  that  Dongan,  or  cne  of  his  immediate  successors, 
appears  to  have  swept  away  this  discrimination  against  the  Jews, 
of  which  Samuel  Brown  complained.  Besides  in  1683,  permission 
had  been  granted  to  Joseph  Bueno  and  others,  whom  we  know  to 
have  been  Jewish,  "  to  trade  and  traffic  within  the  city  of  New 
York."'— Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts — Eng.  Man.  p.  154. — 
EDITOR. 


2  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

It  was  possibly  nothing  more  than  an  ordinary  house, 
converted  into  a  place  for  public  worship,  as  was  the 
case  at  the  time  in  respect  to  the  religious  edifices  of 
the  several  other  of  the  smaller  denominations.  It 
is  represented  on  the  map  as  corresponding  with  the 
building  in  the  next  street  to  it,  used  by  the  French 
Protestants,  which  was  a  very  humble  edifice.  Saul 
Brown  was  succeeded  by  Abraham  D'Lucena.  Lucena 
was  also  a  merchant.  It  appears,  however,  that  in 
1710,  he  petitioned  Governor  Hunter,  to  be  exempted, 
as  minister  for  the  Jews,  from  all  offices  and  duties* 
civil  and  military  (26).  I  cannot  say  whether  this 
application  was  granted  or  not,  but  he  carried  on 
business  afterwards  as  a  merchant,  having  been  con 
cerned  with  others  in  furnishing  provisions  for  the 
expedition  against  Canada  in  1711.  (27). 

When  Lord  Bellamont  was  Governor  in  1698,  he  had 
arrayed  against  him  the  leading  merchants  in  con 
sequence  of  his  efforts  to  put  down  the  piracy  con 
nived  at  by  his  predecessors,  and  was  also  opposed 
by  the  aristocratic  party,  because  he  had  disapproved 
of  their  course  in  the  trial  and  execution  of  Leisler. 
The  aristocratic  and  mercantile  class  combined 
together,  so  as  to  deprive  him  of  the  pecuniary  means 
necessary  to  carry  on  his  government,  and  so  extensive 
and  powerful  was  this  combination,  that  he  writes  in 
1700  to  the  Lords  of  Trade:  "Were  it  not  for  one 
Dutch  merchant  and  two  or  three  Jews  that  have  let 
me  have  money,  I  should  have  been  undone."  (28). 

In  the  beginning  of  this  century,  1700,  a  very 
profitable  commerce  was  carried  on  between  New 

26.  Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts.    English  Manuscripts, 
P-  37*3-     This  petition  is  reprinted  in   Documentary  History  of  the 
State  of  New  York.  Vol.  III.,  p.  434. 

27.  Calendar  of  Historical  Manuscripts.     Eng.  MSS.,  p.  391. 

28.  Colonial  Documents,  iv.,  p.  720. 


JEWS    IN   NORTH    AMERICA  29 

York  and  the  West  Indies,  in  which  several  of  the 
Jewish  merchants  were  engaged,  and  there  being 
great  scarcity  in  Europe  about  the  close  of  the  French 
war,  wheat  was  exported  from  New  York  to  Lisbon. 
Though  this  trade  was  of  short  duration  it  proved 
exceedingly  profitable  to  those  engaged  in  it,  so  that 
several  of  them  were  enabled  to  purchase  estates.  (29). 
Two  of  the  merchants  engaged  in  this  traffic  to  Lisbon 
were  Abraham  D'Lucena  and  Louis  Gomez,  and  as 
they  were  afterward  two  of  the  most  affluent  of  the 
Jewish  residents,  it  may  be  supposed  that  they  were 
among  the  fortunate  in  this  Lisbon  trade,  which 
could  not  be  maintained  when  the  price  of  wheat  fell 
in  Europe,  as  the  vessels  obtained  no  cargos  upon 
their  return  voyage  to  New  York. 

Though  this  direct  trade  between  New  York  and 
Portugal  was,  as  I  have  said,  of  short  duration,  it 
was  attended  by  an  increase  in  the  Jewish  population 
both  in  New  York  and  Newport,  and  I  infer,  that  the 
vessels  engaged  in  it  brought  Jewish  passengers  upon 
the  return  voyage,  some  of  whom  remained  in  New 
York  whilst  others  settled  in  Newport.  I  infer  this,  as 
new  names  undoubtedly  of  Spanish  or  Portuguese 
origin  appear  about  this  period  for  the  first  time 
among  the  Jewish  residents.  (30). 

29.  Valentine's  Manual,  1852. 

30.  In  this  connection,  it  is  interesting  to   notice  that  even   at 
this  early  period  the  various  nationalities  of  Europe  seem  to  have 
been  pretty  well   represented    among   the  Jewish    inhabitants   of 
New  York  City.     Some  evidence  of  this  fact  is  ftund  in  the  follow 
ing  passage   from    a   letter  which   appears    in   the   New     York 
Historical  Society  Collections  for  1880,  p.  342.     It  appears  that  one 
of  the  clergy  of  the  city,  the   Rev.  John   Sharpe,  proposed  that  a 
School  Library  and  Chapel  be  erected  in  New  York  City,  in  1712-3. 
Some  of  the  advantages  which  the  city  offered  for  that  purpose  are 
pointed  by  him  as  follows:    "It  is  possible   also  to  learn    Hebrew 
here  as  well  as  in   Europe,  there  being   a  synagogue  of  Jews,  and 


3°  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

One  of  the  principal  personages  in  the  Jewish  com 
munity  at  this  period  was  Louis  Gomez,  who  emi 
grated  from  England  to  New  York  about  the 
commencement  of  this  century  and  died  in  1730.  He 
had  five  sons:  Mordecai,  Daniel,  David,  Isaac  and 
Benjamin.  Mordecai  was  associated  with  his  father 
in  mercantile  business  and  became  the  head  of  the 
house  upon  his  father's  death.  He  was,  until  his 
death  in  1750,  one  of  the  principal  merchants  of  New 
York,  and  the  accession  of  this  Gomez  family,  who 
were  men  of  intelligence  and  of  high  character,  proved 
a  very  material  addition  to  the  little  Jewish  commu 
nity,  of  which  they  were  for  many  years  the  recognized 
head.  (31). 

The  Synagogue  in  Beaver  Street  was  now  found 
to  be  too  small  or  of  too  humble  a  character  for  a 
denomination,  who,  though  limited  in  numbers,  were 
as  a  body  both  wealthy  and  influential.  (32).  It  was 


many    ingenious   men   of  that    nation    from    Poland,     Hungary, 
Germany,  etc." — EDITOR. 

31.  The  above  remarks  are  based  on   numerous  references   to 
the  family  in  the   colonial  annals.     These  and  many  other  similar 
statements  show  how  large  and  varied  the  commercial  relations  of 
the  Jews  of   New  York   were  at   this   early  period.     There   were 
vessels  owned  wholly  or  in  part  by  Jews  plying  between  New  York 
and  various  points  in  South  America  and  the  West  Indies,  Europe, 
Asia  and  even  Africa.  When  these  papers  and  other  data,  including 
commissions  of  vessels,  clearance  papers,  bills  of  lading,  etc.  have 
been  collected  (many  of   them  are   in  the  Brodhead   collection  in 
Albany  and  need  merely  be   copied  and   translated),  we  will   have 
ample  material   for  an   elaborate  article   on  the  commerce  of   the 
Jews  of  New  York  from  1655  to  the  Revolution,  and  I  believe  such 
an  article  will  not  only   awaken  interest  but   also   great  surprise, 
because  of  the  magnitude  of  the  commerce  in  questicn.      My  own 
investigations,  chiefly  in  connection  with  the  Documents  Relating  to 
the  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  amply  warrant  these  assertions. 
— EDITOR. 

32.  The  text  has  contained    several   references  to    this   congre- 


JEWS    IN   NORTH    AMERICA  31 

accordingly  given  up  in  about  1728,  and  a  new 
synagogue  was  erected  in  a  different  part  of  the  city. 
This  was  what  was  afterwards  known  as  the  Mill 
Street  Synagogue,  and  as  the  street  where  it  stood 
lias  now  disappeared  in  consequence  of  the  changes 
made  in  that  part  of  the  city  after  the  fire  of  1855,  it 
may  be  of  interest  to  give  some  account  of  the  locality 
of  this  synagogue,  which  for  more  than  a  century  was 
the  only  one  in  New  York. 

Mill  Street  was  a  small  narrow  street,  running  out 
of  Broad  Street  in  a  north-easterly  direction  for  a 
short  distance,  and  then  suddenly  terminating  in  a 
narrow  lane  which  ran  south  into  'Stone  Street. 
The  part  extending  from  Broad  Street  was  about  or 

gallon  in  the  preceding  pages.  There  seems  to  be  but  scanty  data 
about  its  history  prior  to  the  beginning  of  the  Eighteenth  century. 
The  following  will  somewhat  supplement  Judge  Daly's  remarks.  It 
is  based  on  a  communication  to  the  Historical  Magazine,  Vol.  I., 
p.  366,  of  Series  III.,  from  Rev.  Dr.  A.  Fischell.  then  a  colleague 
of  Rabbi  Raphall,  of  this  city:  The  first  minutes  of  this  congrega 
tion  are  in  Spanish,  beginning  in  1729,  and  have  references  to  certain 
wholesome  rules  and  regulations  made  about  the  year  1706,  by  the 
Elders  of  the  Congregation  "to  preserve  peace,  tranquilityand  good 
government  among  them  and  those  after  them."  The  following 
names  are  affixed; 

Moses  Gomez,  -Daniel  Gomez,  Benjamin  Mendes  Pacheco, 
Abraham  Riviero,  Mordecai  Gomez,  Nathan  Levy,  Isaac  d'Medena, 
Joseph  Nunez.  Doctor  Nunez.  D.  Costa,  Abraham  Franks,  Baruch 
Juda,  Jacob  Franks,  and  Moses  Gomez,  Jr.  Ten  years  later  the 
following  names  were  added:  J.  Myers  Cohen,  David  Gomez,  J. 
R.  Rodriguez,  Judah  Hays,  Judah  Mears  and  Solomon  Hays. 

The  list  of  names  of  early  Jewish  residents  given  thus  far  is  not 
by  any  means  to  be  considered  complete.  A  number  of  families 
which  arrived  here  in  the  seventeenth  century  seem  to  have  either 
migrated  or  become  extinct  by  this  time.  (1729).  There  are 
references  to  a  number  of  others  not  yet  mentioned,  in  my  posses 
sion,  but  as  a  couple  of  them  are  doubtful  and  the  list  cannot 
be  deemed  complete,  I  shall  dismiss  the  subject  with  this  explana 
tion.— EDITOR. 


32  JtWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

very  near  the  line  of  the  present  South  William 
Street,  and  the  little  lane  or  alley  _  where  it  ended, 
still  remains,  running  from  South  William  to  Stone 
Street.  It  was  one  of  the  most  secluded  and  quiet 
streets  in  the  city,  and  so  narrow  at  either  entrance 
that  it  might  have  been  passed  without  recognizing 
it  as  a  thoroughfare.  During  the  Dutch  occupation 
it  was  known  as  the  Sluyk  Steegie,  or  miry  lane, 
from  the  fact  that  the  drainage  of  the  hilly  or 
elevated  land  which  then  extended  from  Hanover 
Square  to  near  the  corner  of  Exchange  Place  and 
Broad  Street,  ran  into,  this  little  valley  or  open 
way,  which  was  difficult  of  passage  and  had  but  a 
few  straggling  houses  of  a  very  humble  character. 
At  the  upper  end  of  it  from  Broad  Street,  there  was 
a  copious  spring  of  fresh  water  which  at  an  early 
period  of  the  settlement  supplied  a  tannery,  and  near 
this  tannery  was  a  horse-mill  for  grinding  the  bark, 
from  which  the  locality  took  its  name.  At  a  later 
period  this  spring  turned  a  water-mill,  from  which 
there  was  a  cartway  from  Broad  Street,  long  known 
as  Mill  Lane, whilst  from  the  rear  of  the  mill  the  short 
narrow  lane,  which  is  still  existing,  ran  into  Stone 
Street,  then  one  of  the  principal  streets  of  the  city. 
In  1663,  Asser  Levy,  previously  mentioned  as  one  of 
the  first  emigrants,  purchased  two  lots  in  the  part 
known  as  Mill  Lane,  alongside  of  a  house  and  lot 
belonging  to  another  Jewish  resident,  Daniel  Jog- 
himsen  (probably  Joachimsen),  the  lots  bought  by 
Levy  being  located,  as  I  infer,  from  the  deed,  in  about 
the  place  where  the  second  or  Mill  Street  Synagogue 
was  built,  and  very  near  the  spring  which  supplied 
the  water-mill  referred  to.  Grant  Thorburn,  when 
he  came  to  New  York  in  1794,  conversed  with  a  very 
old  man  who  remembered  the  mill,  the  wheel  of 
which  was  turned  by  the  water  from.the  spring,  and  he, 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  33 

Thorburn,  adds,  that  the  reason  assigned  for  the  Jews 
erecting  their  synagogue  in  this  place,  was  "because 
of  its  vicinity  to  the  waters  of  the  spring-water  being 
much  used  upon  their  day  of  purification,''  (33)  and 
Watson  records  that  he  heard  from  the  Phillips 
family  that,  when  the  Jews  first  held  their  worship 
in  Mill  Street,  "they  had  a  living  spring  in  which 
they  were  accustomed  to  perform  their  ablutions  and 
cleansings  according  to  the  rites  of  their  religion  (34). 

Asser  Levy,  who  purchased  this  property  in  Mill 
Street,  was  one  of  the  sworn  butchers  of  this  city, 
who  some  years  afterwards  became  the  proprietor  of 
a  celebrated  tavern  just  within  the  water  gate  at  the 
bottom  of  Wall  Street,  on  the  outside  of  which  gate  he 
had  a  slaughter-house,  which  he  had  been  permitted 
to  erect  by  the  authorities,  as  a  place  for  slaughtering 
cattle  for  the  general  use  of  all  persons  in  the  city. 
He  died  in  1682,  when  his  family  removed  to  Long- 
Island.  (35).  He  was  an  active,  energetic  man, 
-who  had  acquired  considerable  property,  and  the  laud, 
upon  which  the  Mill  Street  Synagogue  was  built 
about  1728,  was  probibly  obtained  from  his  heirs, 
either  by  gift  or  purchase. 

The  new  synagogue  received  the  name  of  Shearith 
Israel,  Remnant  of  Israel.  It  was  a  small  stone  struc 
ture,  very  plain  without,  but  very  neat  within.  (36). 
It  was  separated  from  the  street  by  a  wooden  paling, 
having  a  gate  at  the  eastern  end,  and  the  entrance  to 
the  synagogue  was  in  the  rear.  (37). 

Nearly  three  quarters  of  an  century  had  now  elapsed 

33      Reminiscences  of  Giant  Thorburn.    p.    212,   N.   J.    1845. 

34.  Dunlap's  history  of  New  York,  p.  484. 

35.  De  Voe's  Market  Book,  pp.  45,  46,  54.  55. 

36.  Smith's  History  of  New  York. 

37.  There  is  a  drawing  of  the  building  upon  the  map   made 
by  David  Grim  of  the  city,  as  it  existed  in  1746. 


•-• 


rv     ~-..      -fT1 
TJSIVI-   --Y, 


34  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

since  the  arrival  of  the  first  and  the  emigrants  burial 
ground  being  full,  measures  were  taken  contempo 
raneous  with  the  erection  of  this  synagogue,  for  pro 
curing  a  new  burial  place.  It  appears  by  the  recoids 
that  on  the  26th  of  July,  1727,  a  conveyance  was  made 
to  Louis  Gomez,  trustee,  by  Isaac  Levy,  Asher 
Nathan  Levy,  Isaac  Levy,  Judah  Hears  and  Jacob 
Franks,  executors  of  Moses  Levy,  of  two  lots  of 
ground  in  "the  street  commonly  known  as  the  Gold 
Street",  marked  No.  84  and  85  in  the  map  of  the 
division  of  the  lands  of  William  Beekman,  for  the 
consideration  of  ^46,  135.  money,  ''raised"  in  the 
language  of  the  deed,  '  'by  voluntary  subscriptions  of 
the  inhabitants  of  New  York  of  the  Jewish  religion;" 
which  two  lots  by  the  terms  of  the  conveyance  were 
"to  be  and  remain  forever  thereafter,  a  burial  place 
for  the  habitants  of  the  city  of  New  York,  being  of 
the  Jewish  religion,  and  to  and  for  no  other  use,  in 
tent,  or  purpose  whatsoever,"  These  two  lots,  which 
had  together  a  front  of  50  feet  by  112  deep,  were  on 
the  easterly  side  of  the  present  Gold  Street,  between 
Ferry  and  Beekman  Streets,  and  I  have  been  thus 
particular  in  describing  the  conveyance  of  them,  as  it 
is  necessary  in  connection  with  what  will  be  here 
after  stated  to  show  where  the  old  burial  ground  was. 
This  property  having 'been  obtained,  a  petition 
signed  by  Louis  Gomez  and  eleven  others  was,  on  the 
23d  of  August,  1728,  presented  to  the  Common  Coun 
cil,  setting  forth  that  the  "inhabitants  ot  the  City  of 
New  York  of  the  Jewish  religion"  had  "some  years 
since  purchased  a  small  piece  of  land  beyond  the  Fresh 
Water  for  a  burying  place,"  that  the  ''said  burying 
place  was  then  full,"  and  that  "they  would  have  pur 
chased  some  more  land  adjourning  thereto,  but  it 
being  in  dispute,  they  could  not  obtain  any  title  to  it;" 
that  they  "were  consequently  obliged  to  purchase 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  35 

lots  of  land  lying  near  the  Cripple  Bush  or  swamp, 
but  would  not  presume  to  make  a  burying  place 
thereof  without  the  leave  of  the  Common  Council;" 
which  petition-  closed  with  the  request  that  permis 
sion  would  be  given,  and  the  application  was  granted. 
From  circumstances  which  afterwards  occurred, 
these  two  lots  were  never  used  for  the  purpose  for 
which  they  had  been  bought,  and  as  an  explanation 
of  what  subsequently  transpired  will  show  very  clear 
ly  where  the  first  burial  ground  was,  I  will  give  the 
facts  with  more  minuteness  of  detail  than  would 
otherwise  have  been  called  for,  as  a  portion  of  this 
old  burial  ground  still  remains,  and  it  may  be  inter 
esting  to  know  that  the  small  piece  of  land  in  the 
New  Bowery,  below  Oliver  Street,  now  enclosed  from 
the  street  by  an  iron  railing  and  kept  as  an  old  Jewish 
grave- yard,  is  a  part  of  what  was  the  first  burial  place 
of  the  Jewish  race  in  North  America. 

It  will  be  remembered  that  I  stated  that  the  order 
made  in  1656,  granting  the  Jews  a  burial-ground, 
refers  to  the  place  as  "outside  the  City."  There  was 
at  that  time  but  one  road  leading  outside  the  City. 
There  was  an  open  or  clear  space  beyond  the  City 
Wall,  but  this,  as  a  locality,  was  generally  referred 
to  in  deeds  and  other  documents,  as  ''outside  the 
City  gate."  It  did  not  reach  very  far,  and  beyond  it 
a  dense  forest  extended  for  nearly  two  miles  in  the 
direction  of  Chatham  Square;  whilst  the  land  to  the 
West,  between  this  wood  and  the  Hudson  River,  was 
broken  up  by  low  irregular  hills,  swamps,  marshes, 
and  large  deposits  of  water.  The  road  referred  to  as 
leading  "outside  the  City,"  began  at  the  water  gate, 
about  the  corner  of  the  present  Wall  and  Pearl  Streets 
for  at  that  time  the  water  of  the  East  River  readied 
up  as  far  as  Pearl  Street,  and  the  road  ran  along  the 
edge  of  the  water  to  what  is  now  Fulton  street.  At 


3&  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

this  point  it  turned,  running  along  in  about  the 
direction  of  the  present  Pearl  Street,  to  its  junction 
with  Chatham  Street,  when  it  extended  up  Chatham 
street  and  up  the  Bowery  to  Harlem.  What  is  now 
Chatham  Square,  was  then  the  southern  limit  of  a 
mnge  of  high  hills,  or  perhaps  more  properly,  an  ele 
vated  plateau,  extending  on  the  one  side  as  far  as  the 
point  where  Mulberry  Street  intersects  Canal  Street, 
whilst  on  the  easterly  side  of  Chatham  Square,  this 
line  of  hills  curved  across  the  present  Oliver  and 
Catherine  Streets,  towards  Monroe  Street  and  then 
ran  along  what  is  now  very  nearly  the  line  of  Monroe 
Street  to  Rutgers  Street,  This  elevated  land,  which 
extended  northerly  in  the  direction  of  Harlem,  being 
in  the  early  settlement  well  adapted  for  cultivation 
whilst  the  meadows  below  it  and  east  of  it,  that  is, 
between  it  and  the  East  River,  being  highly  prized 
by  the  Dutch  for  the  pasturing  of  cattle,  the  whole 
v/as  parcelled  among  the  early  settlers  into  farms, 
or  as  the  Dutch  called  them,  Bouweries,  a  word  that 
has  survived  in  the  name  of  the  present  street,  the 
Bowery,  which  was  originally  the  road  leading 
through  these  Bouweries  in  the  direction  of  Harlem. 
These  farms,  or  Bouweries,  were  at  first  leased  out  by 
the  Dutch  Governor,  to  the  original  settlers,  but 
being  exposed  to  attacks  from  the  Indians,  and  hav 
ing  been  twice  devastated  by  the  savages,  they  were 
almost  deserted  about  the  time  of  the  arrival  of  the 
first  Jewish  emigrants  in  1654.  It  was  to  this,  locality, 
afterwards  known  as  Batavia,  that  the  descriptive 
words  "outside  the  City,"  in  the  order  allowing  the 
fews  a  place  of  burial  appropriately  applied  in  1656, 
and  that  this  was  the  place  where  the  first  burial 
ground  stood,  T  will  now  proceed  to  show. 

Within    the   space  now  bounded    by    Broadway, 
Canal,  Mulberry,  Chatham  and  Reade  Streets,  there 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  37 

was  a  lake  of  considerable  extent  called  by  the  Dutch 
"The  Kollock,"  and  by  the  English,  "The  Fresh 
Water,"  which  had  an  outlet  into  the  East  River,  by 
a  small  stream  called  the  "Guide  Kill,"  which 
crossed  Chatham  Street  near  Roosevelt  Street,  and 
came  out  into  the  East  River  at  the  bottom  of  James 
Street.  This  "Kill"  or  small  stream  was  then  and 
long  afterwards  regarded  as  the  boundary  line  be 
tween  the  city  and  the  country,  and  is  distinguished 
as  such  in  many  of  the  early  municipal  regulations. 
(tf). 

It  crossed  the  only  road  leading  from  the  City,  and 
being  a  convenient  line  of  separation,  the  land  below 
it,  that  is,  between  it  and  the  City  Wall,  or  the  pres 
ent  Wall  Street,  was  uniformly  known  as  the  "City 
Commons,"  (39)  and  all  above  and  beyond  it  upon 
tins  road  was  'outside  the  City."  This  little  slrecm 
was  also  the  southern  boundary  of  a  farm  which 
extended  along  what  is  now  Chatham  Street,  to  a 
little  above  Oliver  Street,frorn  whence  the  line  of  this 
farm  ran  to  about  the  present  Madison  Street,  and 
then  southerly  along  Madison  Street  to  the  Kill,  or 
small  stream  mentioned.  This  farm  was  one  of  the 
original  "Bouweries,''  granted  in  1650,  by  Governor 
Stuyvesant  to  Wolfert  Webbers.  The  space  between 
it  and  the  East  River  was  in  part  a  meadow  and  in 
part  a  low  marshy  ground,  or  swamp.  The  elevated 
land  above  was  known  in  the  Dutch  period  as 
Wolfert's  Bouwery;  and  the  land  below  as  Wolfert's 
Meadow.  Near  the  point  where  this  farm  began,  on 
the  highway,  or  a  little  below  the  present  corner  of 
Chatham  and  Roosevelt  Streets,  there  was  a  copious 
spring  of  pure  and  delightful  water,  that  descended 


38.  Val.  Man.  for  1866,  pp.  611. 

39.  Ordinances  of  Nov.  i8th  1731,  aoth,  27th,  330. 


38  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

from  and  was  filtered  through  the  range  of  hills 
above.  There  was  at  this  period  and  for  a  long  time 
afterwards,  no  city  perhaps  in  the  world,  the  water  of 
which  was  as  bad  as  that  of  New  York.  It  was,  in 
fact,  so  bad  that  horses  coming  in  from  the  country 
wouldn't  drink  it.  This  spring  was  therefore  highly- 
prized,  and  was  a  notable  place  with  which  all  the 
inhabitants  of  the  City  were  familiar,  and  to  which 
all  classes  were  accustomed  to  resort,  especially  on 
Sundays,  and  holidays,  for  the  pleasure  of  drinking 
this  water.  Both  it  and  the  kill  or  stream  were 
known  in  1728,  and  long  before  and  afterwards  as  the 
"Fresh  Water,"  (40)  and  the  statement  in  the  peti 
tion  of  the  Jewish  inhabitants  in  1728  that  they  had 
"some  years  since  purchased  a  small  piece  of  land  be 
yond  the  Fresh  Water,  for  a  burying  place,"  indicates 
that  this  burying  ground  was  beyond  and  very  near 
this  well-known  spring. 

The  spring  was  situated  in  a  low  valley,  close  to  the 
highway  and  to  the  kill,  which  at  this  point  (Chatham 
near  Roosevelt  Street)  was  crossed  by  a  bridge  called 
the  Kissing  Bridge,  from  an  old  custom  of  the  city, 
by  which  any  gentleman  riding  or  walking  across 
this  bridge  with  a  lady  had  the  right  to  salute  her. 
The  land  above  rose  as  it  does  now,  until  it  reached 
its  general  level  above  the  head  of  Chatham  Square, 
which  was  then,  as  it  is  still,  an  open  triangular 
space.  At  the  broad  end  of  this  open  space,  between 
what  is  now  Division  Street  and  East  Broadway,  was 
the  farm-house  of  Harmanus  Rutgers,  with  its  build 
ings  and  gardens.  On  the  eastern  side  of  what  is  now 
Chatham  Square,  near  the  present  Oliver  Street, stood 
a  wind-mill,  and  to  the  south  of  this  wind-mill,  on  the 
crest  of  the  hill  and  facing  the  East,  was  this  oldjew- 

40.     Com.  Council,  Minutes  of  May  iQth,  1732. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  3^ 

ish  burial  ground.  It  is  indicated  upon  the  earliest 
map  known  of  the  city,  that  of  1664,  and  its  exact 
place  is  easily  determined  by  Holland's  map  of  1757, 
Maerschalckm's  of  1755,  and  1763,  Ratzer'sof  1765, 
and  Montresor's  of  1775.  It  was  in  1728,  and  for 
many  years  afterwards,  in  a  very  beautiful  position 
overlooking  the  meadows  below  and  the  city  to  the 
south  of  it  and  commanding  an  extensive  view  of  the 
course  of  the  East  River  and  of  the  neighboring  shores 
of  Long  Island.  (41). 

It  is  said  in  Booth's  History  of  the  City  of  New 
York,  that  a  Jewish  cemetery  was  first  established  in 
the  city  in  1731,  that  it  was  bounded  by  Chatham, 
Oliver,  Henry  and  Catherine  Streets,  and  was  given 
by  Noe  Willey,  of  London,  to  his  three  sons,  mer 
chants  in  New  York,  to  be  held  as  a  burial  place  for 
the  Jewish  nation  forever.  No  part  of  this  statement 
is  correct.  Roy,  not  Noe  Willey,  an  apothecary  of 
London,  became  the  owner  of  the  farm  or  Bouwerie 
on  which  this  first  burying  ground  stood,  under  these 
circumstances.  It  had  passed  from  the  original 
proprietor,  Wolfert  Webbers,  by  successive  convey 
ance,  until  it  was  conveyed  in  1698,  by  William 
Merritt,  a  former  Mayor  of  the  city,  to  William  Jane- 
way,  a  purser  of  a  British  vessel  of  war.  Janeway, 
in  1699,  executed  a  mortgage  upon  it  to  Tennis  and 
Jacob  Dekay,  two  persons  in  New  York,  for  ^500, 
and  then  mortgaged  it  again  in  London,  in  1700,  to 
Roy  Willey  for  ^340,  concealing  the  fact  of  the  first 

41.  There  is  a  print  in  Valentine's  Manual  for  1861.  p.  520 
purporting  to  give  &  view  of  this  locality  and  its  surroundings  at  an 
early  period,  with  the  Jewish  burial  ground  in  the  distance,  butlik- 
many  of  the  prints  in  these  manuals,  it  is  not  the  copy  of  an  actual 
drawing,  but  an  imaginary  production,  of  little  value  to  an  investi 
gator.  As  a  representation  of  the  Jewish  burial  ground  at  any 
period,  it  is  wholly  unreliable. 


40  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

mortgage.  Janeway  died  in  1726,  and  Willey's 
mortgage  being  long  past  due,  he  instructed  ail 
attorney  in  New  Yoik  to  obtain  the  payment  of  it, 
when  the  existence  of  the  first  mortgage  came  to 
light.  Willey  then  sent  out  a  power  of  attorney  to 
one  Richard  Davis,  the  surgeon  of  a  vessel  of  war 
upon  the  New  York  station,  authorizing  him  to  do 
whatever  might  be  essential  to  secure  Willey's  rights. 
By  an  act  passed  in  the  reign  of  William  and  Mary,  it 
was  declared  that,  if  any  one  should  join  in  a  second 
mortgage  upon  land,  concealing  the  existence  of  a 
prior  mortgage,  he  should  forfeit  thereafter  all  right 
to  redeem  the  land  One  of  the  Dekays  was  then 
dead,  and  had  left  his  interest  in  the  first  mortgage 
to  his  widow,  and  Davis  commenced  proceedings  to 
enable  Willey,  by  paying  the  first  mortgage,  to  cut 
off  all  claims  of  the  Dekays,  or  of  the  heirs  to  Jane- 
way,  and  obtain  the  land  himself  in  satisfaction  of 
his  mortgage.  This  litigation  was  pending  in  the 
Court  of  Chancery  in  1728,  and  this  was  the  difficulty 
to  which  the  Jewish  petitioners  to  the  Common 
Council,  in  1728,  referred,  when  they  stated  in  their 
petition,  that  "  they  would  have  purchased  some 
more  land  adjoining  the  burial-ground  they  then 
had,  but  it  being  in  dispute  they  could  not  obtain 
any  title  to  it.''  In  1729,  however,  a  settlement  was 
effected  by  Davis. 

Jacob  Dekay  and  the  widow  of  his  brother,  and 
also  the  heirs  of  Janeway,  executed  conveyances  to 
Willey,  by  .which,  without  any  fuither  litigation,  he 
became  the  owner  of  the  land  (42)  in  all  of  which 
conveyances,  two  places  upon  the  farm,  "the  Jews' 
burial  ground,"  and  "the  family  vault  of  Wm.  De 

(42)  N.  Y.  Reg  of  Deeds,  Lib.  31,  pp.  109,  406.  Albany 
Deeds,  No  9,  p.  474. 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  41 

Meyer,"  a  former  owner  of  the  farm,  were  excepted. 
Roy  Willey,  thus  having  become  the  owner  of  the 
property,  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  land  adjoining 
the  old  burial  place  was  removed,  and  measures  were 
immediately  taken  to  procure  it  by  purchase  from 
Willey. 

Indeed,  in  anticipation  of  this  settlement,  Willey 
sent  out  in  1728,  a  power  ot  attorney  to  Davis, 
giving  him  authority  to  execiite  a  deed  of  the  lands 
required  and  on  the  iyth  of  December,  1720,  Davis, 
as  the  attorney  of  Willey,  conveyed  to  Luis  Gomez, 
and  his  three  sons,  Mordecai,  Daniel  and  David,  for 
the  consideration  of  ^30,  a  piece  ofgiound  which  in 
the  language  of  the  deed,  began  "at  the  south-east 
corner  of  the  Jewish  burial-place,"  and  extended  to 
the  "Highway,"  the  present  lire  of  Chatham  Square. 
It  was  an  oblong  piece  of  land,  392  feet  long  by  56 
feet  broad  in  the  widest  part,  the  boundaries  being  so 
arranged,  and  so  expressed  in  the  deed,  as  to  take  in 
in  the  rear,  or  southernmost  part  of  it,  the  existinp 
Jewish  burial  ground  which  as  thus  included,  con 
stituted  about  one  thiid  of  the  whole.  (43) 

This  deed  fixes  the  exact  locality  of  the  burial- 
ground  referred  to  by  the  Jewish  residents,  in  their 

(43)  The  official  papers  above  referred  to  are  at  present  to  be 
found  in  the  Register's  Office,  New  York  City.  Copies  of  them 
appeared  in  the  Menorah,  July,  1892.  About  1850,  some  years 
after  the  land  in  question  had  ceased  to  be  used  as  a  burial  ground, 
the  property  in  question  became  the  subject  of  a  law-suit.  The 
widow  of  one  of  the  descendants  of  the  original  grantees  sued  the 
Tradesmen's  Bank,  which  then  owned  the  property,  for  dower, 
but  lost  the  suit,  because  her  husband's  ancestors  and  his  associates 
only  took  the  lend  as  a  trust.  Much  interesting  information  in 
regard  to  the  plaintiff's  family  and  the  early  history  of  the  cemetery 
developed  in  the  course  of  the  trial,  See  the  report  of  the  case 
Gomez  versus  Tradesmen's  Bank,  4  Sand  ford's  Reports,  102. — 
EDITOR. 


42  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

petition  to  the  Common  Council  in  the  previous 
year,  and  as  they  state  in  that  petition  that  it  was 
then  full,  and  as  the  Jewish  population  of  the  city  up 
to  that  time  was  a  very  small  one,  there  can  be  no 
doubt  that  it  was  the  original  burial  ground  of 
1656. 

In  Maerschalckm's  map  of  1755,  sixteen  years  attei 
the  purchase  of  the  additional  ground  from  Willey, 
the  old  burial  ground  as  it  was  then  enclosed  and 
fenced  in,  is  represented  as  situated  a  little  above 
Madison  Street,  and  as  extending  over  the  present 
Oliver  Street,  for  about  one-third  of  the  block  (44) 
and  in  Lieut.  Ratzer's  map  of  1763,  (45)  it  is  repre 
sented  as  still  enclosed  and  separated  from  the  rest 
of  the  ground,  with  a  small  square  enclosure  in  the 
front  of  it,  that  I  take  to  be  the  family  vault  of  De 
Meyer,  which  had  been  reserved  by  the  De  Meyers 
when  they  conveyed  the  land,  and  being  reserved 
-also  in  the  conveyance  by  the  De  Kays  to  Willey  in 
1729,  could  not  be  disturbed.  (46) 

On  the  24th  of  November,  1730,  Luis  Gomez  and 
his  three  sous,  Mordecai,  Daniel  and  David,  executed 
an  instrument  reciting  the  conveyance  of  the  lands  by 
David  to  them  as  the  agent  of  Willey;  that  they  had 
appropriated  ,£30  for  the  purchase  of  it  "for  a  burial 

(44)  Val.  Man.  for  1849,  P-  1 4°- 

(45)  N.  Y.  Reg.  of  Deeds,  Lib.  18,  pp.  166,  167.    Albany  Deeds, 
No.  9,  p.  474. 

(46;  It  is  said  in  Scovill's  Old  Merchants  of  New  York,  Vol.  2. 
p.  121,  that  there  were  monuments  upon  this  ground,  bearing  date 
1652,  which  would  be  two  years  after  the  original  grant  of  the  lana 
by  Governor  Stuyvesant.  This  date,  1652,  is  probab  y  a  mistake, 
Scovill,  the  author  of  this  work,  being  a  loose  and  very  inaccurate 
writer.  Greenleaf,  however,  the  author  of  an  account  of  the 
churches  of  New  York,  a  careful  and  accurate  writer,  states  that 
there  were  tombstones  there  of  the  date  of  1678,  a  fact  strengthen 
ing  the  conclusion  that  this  was  the  first  burial  ground. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  43 

place  for  the  use  of  the  Jewish  nation  in  general," 
and  that  the  title,  though  in  their  names,  was  in 
trust;  by  which  instrument  they  bound  themselves 
in  the  sum  of  ;£i,ooo  to  Jacob  Franks  and  Nathan 
Levy,  merchants  of  New  York,  that  they  would  not 
sell  the  land  or  any  part  of  it,  but  that  it  should 
remain  "forever"  thereafter  as  "a  burying  place  for 
the  Jewish  nation  in  general  and  to  no  other  use 
whatever."  (47) 

This  enlargement  of  the  original  burying  ground 
having  been  thus  affected,  the  two  lots  in  Gold  Street 
were  not  used  for  the  purpose  for  which  they  were 
bought,  but  remained  in  the  Gomez  family,  as  I  find 
they  were  advertised  for  sale  by  the  widow  of  Morde- 
cai  Gomez  in  1752.  (48) 

When  Madison,  then  called  Bancker  Street,  was 
laid  out  in  1755,  the  rear  of  the  burial  ground  was 
extended  to  that  street,  and  when  the  upper  part  of 
Oliver  Street,  then  called  Fayette  Street,  was  opened 
after  the  Revolution,  it  took  off  a  part  of  the  burial 
ground  extending  over  Oliver  Street,  and  when 
Chatham  Square  was  regulated  and  paved  about  the 
commencement  of  this  century,  it  took  off  a  portion 
of  the  front.  In  this  condition  it  remained  with  but 
few  material  alterations  until  1823,  when  the  Con 
gregation  Shearith  Israel,  the  Mill  Street  Syna 
gogue,  applied  to  Chancellor  Kent  for  liberty  to  sell 
the  part  fronting  on  Chatham  Square,  45  feet  to  the 
depth  of  88  feet,  which  was  granted,  and  it  was 
accordingly  sold  to  the  Tradesmen's  Bank  for  $15,000, 
but  how  or  in  what  way  this  Congregation  obtained 
or  could  convey  any  title  to  it,  does  not  appear. 
Daniel  Gomez,  the  survivor  of  the  four  original  trus- 

(47)  N.  Y.  Reg.  of  Deeds,  Lib.  31,  p.  374. 
<48)  N.  Y.  Gazette,  Feb.  3d,  1752. 


44  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

tees,  removed  before  the  Revolution  to  Philadelphia, 
and,  1828  his  grandson,  Isaac  Gomez,  Jr.,  released  to 
the  Mill  Street  Synagogue  all  his  estate  or  right  in 
the  land,  as  the  surviving  representative  of  his  grand 
father,  David  Gomez,  and  a  few  days  after  this 
release  was  executed,  this  Congregation  applied  to 
Chancellor  Walworth  for  liberty  to  sell  the  rear  part 
of  the  land,  fronting  upon  Oliver  and  Madison  Streets. 
There  was  at  that  time  a  heavy  assessment  on  it  of 
$11,626.54,  for  the  improvements  made  in  the  vicin 
ity,  whilst  it  was  no  longer  available  as  a  burial 
ground,  the  City  Corporation  having  prohibited 
burials  in  that  part  of  the  city.  The  Congregation 
Shearith  Israel,  to  prevent  its  being  sold  for  the  pay 
ment  of  the  assessment,  mortgaged  it  to  Harman 
Hendricks,  who  had  advanced  the  money  to  pay  the 
assessment  and  the  accumulated  interest,  and  the  Con 
gregation  having  incurred  an  additional  debt  to  enable 
them  to  purchase  a  new  burial  giound  in  Eleventh 
Street,  this  application  to  the  Court  of  Chancery  was 
made  that  they  might  pay  oft  the  whole  debt,  $22,132.- 
43,  by  the  sale  of  the  rear  part  of  the  ground.  The 
application  was  granted,  and  the  portion  referred  to 
was  sold  in  1829  to  David  Bryson  and  Robert  Swan- 
ton.  Finally,  a  few  years  ago,  the  Bowery  was 
extended  through  what  remained  of  it,  and  all  that 
is  now  left  is  the  small  enclosure  fronting  the  New 
Bowery,  before  referred  to,  a  portion  of  which  is  a 
part  of  the  original  burying  ground  of  1656. 

On  the  I5th  of  November,  1727,  an  act  was  passed 
by  the  General  Assembly  of  New  York  providing 
that,  when  the  oath  of  abjuration  was  to  be  taken 
by  any  one  of  his  Majesty's  subjects  professing  the 
Jewish  religion,  the  words  "upon  the  true  faith  of  a 
Christian, "might  be  omitted,  and  on  the  i8th  of  the 
same  month  an  act  was  passed  naturalizing  Daniel 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  45 

Nunez  Da  Costa,  a  Jewish  resident  of  the  city  of 
New  York,  (49)  which  was  virtually  abrogating  the 
general  act  of  1683,  before  referred  to,  which  limited 
the  naturalization  of  foreigners  to  those  professing 
the  Christian  religion.  (50). 

In  1737,  the  election  of  Col.  Frederick  Phillips  as 
a  representative  to  the  General  Assembly  for  the 
County  of  Westchester  was  contested  by  Capt.  Corne 
lius  Van  Home,  who  claimed  the  seat.  The  Assembly 
ordered  an  investigation  before  the  House,  and  after 
Van  Home's  case  had  been  heard,  Col.  Phillips 
called  some  persons  of  the  Jewish  persuasion  to  give 
evidence  on  behalf  of  Phillips,  when  an  objection 
was  made  to  their  competency  as  witnesses.  The 
matter  was  argued  by  the  counsel  for  the  respective 
parties,  and  Col.  Phillips  desiring  that  the  sense  of 
the  House  should  be  taken,  both  parties  were 
requested  to  withdraw,  and  after  some  time  they 
were  called  in  and  informed  by  the  Speaker  that  it 
was  the  opinion  of  the  House  that  "none  of  the 
Jewish  profession  could  be  admitted  as  evidence"  in 
such  a  controversy.  From  what  subsequently 
occurred,  it  would  seem  that  some  of  those  who  had 
voted  at  this  election  were  Jews,  for,  after  again  hear- 

49.  Strangely   enough,  some    years   before   this    statute    \vas 
passed,  in  July,  1723,  an  act  was  passed  naturalizing  the  following: 
among  others:  Abraham  Isaacs,  David  Elias.  Jacob  Hays,  Joseph 
Simson,  Isaac   Rodrigues,   Solomon   Myers.     It  does   not  appear 
that  any   special  provision,  permitting  them  to   omit   the  words 
''upon  the  true  faith   of  a  Christian."   was  included  in  the   act. 
(Journal  of  Legislative  Council  of  New  York,  Vol.  I,  p.  127.)  The 
reader  is  referred  to  a  lengthy  consideration  of  the  various  statutes 
of  naturalization,  contained  in  a  letter  written  by  Judge  Daly  some 
years  ago.and  reprinted  in  ''The  Jewish  Messenger."  See  Apptndix 
II.— EDITOR. 

50.  Journal  of   Legislative  Council  of  New  York,  Vol.    I,  xii. 
pp.  560,  561. 


46  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

ing  arguments  from  the  counsel  of  both  parties,  the 
House  resolved  that,  as  it  did  not  appear  that  persons 
of  the  Jewish  religion  had  a  right  to  vote  for  members 
of  Parliament  in  Great  Britain,  it  was  the  unanimous 
opinion  of  the  House  that  they  could  not  be  admitted 
to  vote  for  representatives  in  the  colony  (51).  The 
author  of  the  continuation  of  Smith's  History  of 
New  York  refers  to  this  as  a  remarkable  decision,  and 
in  explanation  01  it  says:  "that  Catholics  and  Jews 
had  long  been  peculiarly  obnoxious  to  the  colonists," 
that  "the  first  settlers  being  Dutch,  and  mostly  of 
the  Reformed  Protestant  religion,  and  the  migrations 
from  England,  since  the  colony  belonged  to  the 
Crown,  being  principally  Episcopal,  both  united  in 
their  aversion  to  the  Catholics  and  Jews."  (52)  But 
there  is  no  ground  for  inferring  that  this  decision 
proceeded  from  any  peculiar  colonial  aversion  to  the 
Jews.  The  question  was  simply  one  of  law.  The 
counsels  of  the  respective  contestants  availed  them 
selves  as  is  usual  in  such  cases,  of  every  legal  object 
ion  that  would  operate  to  the  advantage  of  their  case, 
and  this  point  being  raised,  the  House  had  to  pass 
upon  it.  (53)  The  law  of  the  Colony  of  New  York 

51.  N.  Y.    Journal  of  Assembly,  Vol.  I.,  p.  712,  printed   by  H. 
Saines,  1764. 

52.  Smith's   History   of   New  York,  Albany   edition,  of   1814 
P-  423- 

53.  As  this  was  a  contested  election  case,  it  can  scarcely  be  pos 
sible  that  the  arguments  advanced  on  behalf  of  the  one  side  would 
have  secured  a  unanimous  vote  in  their  favor,  had  they  not  been 
convincing.  It  is,  however,  another  question  whether  any  one 
specially  espousing  the  cause  of  the  Jews  and  acquainted  with 
everything  bearing  on  the  subject  was  present,  to  present  the 
contrary  view.  There  is  no  record  of  any  such  plea  or  pleader. 
As  stated  elsewhere,  however,  the  legal  question  involved  is  by 
no  means  so  one-sided  as  appears  from  the  above;  the  reasons  for 
my  opinion  will  be  found  elsewhere.  Upon  this  particular  resolu 
tion,  the  following  criticism  is  foun'l  in  the  writings  of  Wm  H. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  47 

was  especially  modeled  upon  that  of  the  mother 
country.  Unlike  the  New  England  colonies,  New 
York  was  a  conquered  province  and  when  it  was 
taken  from  the  Dutch,  the  English  mode  of  proced 
ure  in  all  matters  of  law  and  government,  was  intro 
duced  bodily,  and  from  this  circumstance  English 
forms,  precedents,  and  modes  of  proceedings  came 
into  use  to  an  extent  that  did  not  prevail  in  other 
colonies  where  the  people  themselves  had  been  left 
to  originate  and  frame  such  a  system  of  government 
and  laws  as  was  suggested  by  their  wants  and  was 
most  conducive  to  their  interests.  When  the  legis 
lative  Assembly  of  New  York,  therefore,  unanimously 
decided  that  no  Jew  could  vote  for  a  member  of  that 
body,  they  were  but  simply  declaring  the  law  as  it 
existed  in  England^  for  it  was  not  until  a  compara 
tively  recent  period  that  a  Jew  could  vote  at  an 
election  in  Great  Britain  (54). 

Seward,  immediately  following  strong  commendation  of  this  very 
legislature:  "Yet  the  record  contains  one  spot  which  the  friends 
of  rational  liberty  would  wish  to  see  effaced.  On  a  question  con 
cerning  a  contested  seat,  the  Assembly  resolved  that  Jews  could 
neither  vote  for  representatives  nor  be  admitted  as  witnesses." 
—EDITOR. 

54.  Appendix  II.  contains  a  very  valuable  exposition  of  the  Legal 
Status  of  the  Jews  in  England,  and  it  is  clear  from  an  examination 
of  the  Journal  of  the  Legislative  Council  of  New  York,  that  they 
limited  their  consideration  of  the  question  to  an  inquiry  as  to  the 
legal  status  of  the  Jews  of  E-n^land.and  adapted  the  same  standard. 
Judge  Daly's  exposition  of  this  is  unassailable. 

I  wish,  however,  to  offer  a  brief  for  the  Jews,  and  shall  proceed 
to  a  consideration  of  some  of  the  colonial  laws  bearing  on  the 
subject.  Before  doing  so,  I  wish  to  call  attention  to  the  fact  that 
this  very  session  of  the  Legislature  was  conspicuous  for  its 
championship  of  colonial  liberty  and  charter  rights  over  against 
British  royalistic  expositions  of  them.  . 

We  have  seen  that  in  the  Dutch  period  orders  were  issued  on 
April  21,  1657,  by  the  Director  General  and  Council,  requiring  the 


48  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

There  was,  as  the  writer  suggests,  a  very  strong 
antipathy  to  Jews  and  Roman  Catholics.  Indeed,  so 
intolerant  was  their  spirit  in, respect  to  them,  that 
there  were  few  of  any  of  those  persuasions  at  that 
time  in  the  colony.  But  the  feeling  in  respect  to  the 
Jews  was  constantly  relaxing,  as  will  appear  from 
what  has  been  already  narrated.  They  were  compara 
tively  a  small  body,  dwelling  chiefly  in  the  City  of 
New  York,  and  so  far  from  being  regarded  with 
aversion  they  enjoyed  privileges  not  extended  to  Jews 
in  other  colonies,  and  had  among  their  number  SOUK- 
of  the  most  influential  and  respected  merchants  of 
the  city.  Smith,  who  was  much  better  able  to  judge 
than  the  writer,  who  continued  his  history,  in  speak 
ing  of  the  Jews,  says  that,  "they  were  not  incon 
siderable  for  their  numbers;  "  but  there  is  contempor 
ary  evidence  which  is  decisive.  Kalm,  the  Swedish 
traveler,  visited  New  York  eight  years  after  the 
period  of  which  I  am  writing,  and  remained  in  the 
city  and  in  the  colony  a  sufficient  lepgth  of  time  to 
render  all  that  he  has  written  exceedingly  valuable. 
He  .says,  "There  are  many  Jews  settled  in  New  York 
who  possess  great  privileges.  They  have  a  synagogue 
and  houses,  great  country-seats  of  their  own  property, 
and  are  allowed  to  keep  shops  in  the  town.  They 
have  likewise  several  ships  which  they  freight  and 
send  out  with  their  goods." 

Burgomasters  of  New  Amsterdam  n  admit  Salvator  D'Andrada 
and  other  Jews,  petitioners,  to  the  rights  of  citizenship.  Under  the 
Dutch,  the  Jews  had  freedom  of  trade  and  the  privilege  of  admis 
sion  into  the  trade  guilds,  and  their  worship  in  private  quarters 
was  not  interfered  with.  By  the  express  terms  of  the  Capitulation 
of  New  Amsterdam,  it  was  agreed  by  the  British  that  "All  people 
in  New  Amsterdam  shall  still  continue  free  denizens  and  shall 
enjoy  their  lands,  houses,  goods,  whatsoever,  etc.,"  and  also  that 
"  The  Dutch  here  shall  enjoy  the  liberty  of  their  consciences  in 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  49 

In  fine,  the  Jews  enjoy  all  the  privileges  common  to 
the  other  inhabitants  of  this  town  and  province"  (55) 

Divine  worship  and  Church  discipline,"  The  Jews  residing 
within  the  city  came  within  the  letter  and  the  spirit  of  these  stipu 
lations,  which  were  reiterated  in  the  Treaty  of  Brida. 

We  have  already  referred  to  various  Jews  who  became  freemen 
of  New  York,  under  the  provisions  of  the  ducal  or  royal  charters  of 
New  York.  In  addition  to  those  I  have  named  elsewhere,  I  may 
add  Joshua  David,  Sr.  and  Jr..  Moses  Levy,  Isaac  Rodrigues 
Marques,  Joseph  Isaacs  Butcher,  and  others,  who  were  admitted 
prior  to  1700,  and  thus  secured  trade  privileges  and  the  right  to 
vote  for  officers.  (See  N.  Y.  Hist.  Society  Collections  for  1885.) 

Strangely  enough,  the  Statute  of  New  York,  George  I,,  passed 
in  1715,  which  provided  for  the  mode  of  naturalizing  aliens  subse 
quent  to  its  enactment  in  Section  4,  expressly  limits  the  privilege 
to  Protestants,  but  by  a  former  section  of  the  same  statute  "every 
person  of  foreign  birth  now  alive,  and  who  did  inhabit  within  the 
Colony  before  the  said  first  day  of  November,  1683,  shall  forever 
hereafter  be  deemed  to  have  been  naturalized,  and  shall  enjoy  all 
the  Rights,  Privileges  and  Advantages  that  any  of  his  Majesty's 
natural- born  subjects  of  this  Colony  do  or  of  right  ought  to  enjoy." 
(Laws  of  New  York,  1691,1773,  p.  99.)  This  section  contains 
no  such  limitation  as  to  Religion,  and  must  have  had  the  effect 
of  naturalizing  Jewish  residents,  who  had  lived  m  the  State  prior 
to  1683. 

After  this  period,  1723-1727,  etc.,  as  stated  in  the  text  and  in 
Note  49,  Jews  were  naturalized  by  special  act.  Taking  into  con 
sideration,  therefore,  these  colonial  laws  and  statutes,  as  well  as 
the  international  obligations  created  by  the  capitulation  of  1664, 
and  the  Treaty  of  Brida,  I  think  that  the  Legislature  should  have 
reached  a  contrary  result  in  the  election  controversy  of  1737.  With 
the  effects  of  the  English  statutes  of  i3Geo.  II.  c.  7,  I  shall  not 
deal  as  Judge  Daly  has  referred  to  it  at  length.  Attorney  General 
Rosendale  of  this  State  pointed  out  at  the  recent  meeting  of  the 
American  Jewish  Historical  Society,  that  this  Act  provided  for 
keeping  a  registry  of  the  names  of  all  aliens  naturalized  under  it  in 
England,  and  that  the  lists  might  be  still  accessible  in  England, 
and  prove  of  considerable  value  in  identifying  American  Jewish 
settlers.— EDITOR. 

55.  This  reference  to  the  Jews  of  New  York  is  of  considerable 
interest;  I  give  it  in  full,  therefore: 


5°  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

This  is  very  conclusive,  and  he  had  the  means  of  obtain- 
ing  correct  information,  for  he  says  that  during  his 
residence  in  the  city  he  was  frequently  in  company  with 
Jews,  and  that  he  went  twice  to  the  synagogue  in  Mill 

"Nov.  2  (1748).  Besides  the  different  sects  ot  Christians,  there 
are  many  Jews  settled  in  New  York,  who  possess  great  privileges. 
They  have  a  synagogue  and  houses,  and  great  country-seats  of 
their  own  property,  and  are  allowed  to  keep  shops  in  town.  They 
have  likewise  several  ships,  which  they  freight,  and  send  out  with 
their  own  goods.  In  fine  they  enjoy  all  the  privileges  common  to 
the  other  inhabitants  of  this  town  and  province. 

During  my  residence  at  New  York  this  time  and  in  the  next  two 
years,  I  was  frequently  in  company  with  Jews.  I  was  informed, 
among  other  things,  that  these  people  never  boiled  any  meat  tor 
themselves  on  Saturday,  but  that  they  always  did  it  the  day  before; 
and  that  in  winter  they  kept  no  fire  during  the  whole  Saturday. 
They  commonly  eat  no  pork  ;  yet  I  have  been  told  by  several  men 
of  credit,  that  many  of  them  (especially  among  the  joung  Jews) 
when  traveling,  did  not  make  the  least  difficulty  about  eating  this, 
or  any  other  meat  that  was  put  before  them  ;  even  though  they 
were  in  company  with  Christians.  I  was  in  their  synagogue  last 
evening  for  the  first  time,  and  this  day  at  noon  visited  it  again,  and 
each  time  I  was  put  into  a  particular  seat  which  was  set  apart  for 
strangers  or  Christians.  A  young  Rabbi  read  the  Divine  service; 
which  was  partly  in  Hebrew  and  partly  in  the  Rabbinical  dialect. 
Both  men  and  women  were  dressed  entirely  in  the  English  fashion; 
the  former  had  all  ot  them  their  hats  on,  and  did  not  once  take 
them  off  during  service.  The  galleries,  I  observed,  were  appro 
priated  to  the  ladies,  while  the  men  sat  below.  During  prayers, 
the  men  spread  a  white  cloth  over  their  heads,  which  perhaps  is  to 
represent  sackcloth.  But  I  observed  that  the  wealthier  sort  of 
people  had  a  much  richer  sort  of  cloth  than  the  poorer  ones. 
Many  of  the  men  had  Hebrew  books,  in  which  they  sang  and  read 
alternately.  The  Rabbi  stood  in  the  middle  of  the  synagogue,  and 
read  with  his  face  turned  towards  the  east ;  he  spoke,  however,  so 
fast  as  to  make  it  almost  impossible  for  any  one  to  understand 
what  he  said." —Travels  in  North  America,  by  Peter  Kalm, 
reprinted  in  Pinkerton's  Voyages  and  Travels  Vol.  xii.  p.  455-6. 
This  description  of  New  York  City  was  reprinted  in  the  Manual  of 
the  Common  Council  ot  New  York  for  1869,  p.  837  at  pp.  841-2. — 
EDITOR. 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  51 

Street  to  witness  their  religious  exercises.  It  may  be 
inferred  from  this  statement  that  they  enjoyed  at  this 
time  every  civil  and  political  privilege,  except  the 
right  to  vote  for  members  of  the  colonial  Legislature, 
which  was  withheld,  not  in  any  spirit  of  local  pre 
judice,  but  in  conformity  to  what  had  been  the  rule 
in  Great  Britain  for  centuries,  and  which  was  regarded 
as  controlling  in  the  colonies. 

There  is  but  little  to  say  respecting  the  further 
history  of  the  Jews  in  the  Colony  of  New  York,  after 
the  period  to  which  I  have  last  referred,  1748  (56). 

An  outrage  perpetrated  upon  the  rights  of  one  of 
them  in  1749,  which  was  made  the  subject  of  an 
official  communication  by  Governor  Clinton,  may 
be  referred  to  as  illustrating  the  difficulty  at  that  time 
in  the  colony,  of  obtaining  justice  when  the  per 
petrator  belonged  to  one  of  the  influential  aristocratic 
families.  A  Jew  from  Holland,  where,  according  to 
the  record,  "he  had  lived  in  a  handsome  manner, 
and  had  kept  his  own  coach,  but  had  become  unfor 
tunate"  emigrated  to  New  York  with  his  wife,  who 
in  personal  appearance  resembled  Lady  Clinton,  the 
wife  of  .{he  Governor,  a  dignified  and  fine-looking 
woman.  Oliver  De  Lancey,  the  brother  of  the  Chief 
Justice  of  the  Province,  with  several  associates, 
having  disguised  their  persons  and  blackened  their 
faces,  went  to  this  man's  residence  and  alter  breaking 
his  windows  and  forcing  open  his  door,  entered  his 
dwelling,  "where  they  pulled  and  tossed  everything 
to  pieces,"  during  which  De  Lancey  proffered  in  an 
indecent  speech  to  take  improper  liberties  with  the 
man's  wife,  for  the  reason,  as  he  averred,  that  she 

56.  The  further  account  of  the  Jews  in  New  York  up  to  Note  60 
inclusive  appeared  several  years  later  in  "The  Jewish  Times," 
December  3,  1875,  For  convenience,  I  ha^e  incorporated  it 
here. — EDITOR. 


52  JEWS    IN   NORTH   AMERICA 

was  like  Lady  Clinton.  The  insulted  husband,  whose 
privacy  and  dwelling  had  thus  been  invaded,  applied 
to  the  three  leading  lawyers  of  the  province  to  insti 
tute  proceedings  against  the  offenders,  and  received 
from  each  the  same  answer,  that  it  was  impossible  to 
do  anything,  as  the  principal  offender  was  a  brother 
of  the  Chief  Justice  (57). 

From  this  period  to  the  American  Revolution, 
there  was  but  little  increase  in  the  Jewish  population . 
During  the  quarter  of  a  century  that  preceded  that 
event,  the  population  of  New  York  increased  at  a 
greater  ratio  than  at  any  previous  period.  It  took 
half  a  century — from  1700-1750 — for  it  to  double;  out 
it  more  than  doubled  in  the  twenty-five  years  that 
followed,  increasing  from  about  9000  in  1750,  to 
about  23,000  in  1776.  The  Jewish  population,  how 
ever,  did  not  augment  in  the  same  proportion.  It 
received  some  additions  by  emigration,  chiefly  from 
England,  but  not  sufficient  to  counteract  the  loss  of 
others  who  went  to  Newport,  Charleston  or  Phila 
delphia. 

Though  small,  however,  it  still  continued  to  be  a 
highly  respectable  and  influential  body, having  among 
its  members  some  of  the  principal  merchants  of  the 
city.  Of  this  number  was  Hayman  Levy,  who  was 
the  head  of  one  of  the  principal  mercantile  firms  of 
the  city,  Levy,  Lyons  &  Co.,  having  a  branch  in 
Europe,  Levy,  Solomon  &  Co.  Mr.  Levy  carried  on 
an  extensive  business  for  many  years,  chiefly  among 
the  Indians,  by  whom  he  was  widely  known  and  with 

57.  Governor  Clinton's  letter,  is  to  be  found  in  Colonial  Docu 
ments  Relating  to  the  State  of  New  York,  Vol.  vi.  p.  471.  From 
the  same  it  appears  that  the  culprit.Oliver  De  Lancey.was  guilty  of 
other  riotous  proceedings,  and  there  is  nothing  to  show  that  the 
failure  to  secure  his  punishment  was  in  any  way  due  to  the  fact 
that  the  injured  parties  were  Jews.— EDITOR. 


JEWS   IN    NORTH   AMERICA  53 

whom  he  had  great  influence.  His  place  of  business 
was  in  Mill  Street,  not  far  from  the  synagogue,  and 
as  he  not  only  purchased  all  that  the  Indians  brought 
for  traffic,  but  kept  everything  in  his  large  establish 
ment  to  supply  their  wants,  the  Indians  who  came  to 
the  city  dealt  largely  with  him,  and  at  certain  seasons 
of  the  year  were  to  be  seen  in  large  numbers  lining 
the  street  in  the  vicinity  of  his  warehouse. 

The  great  respect  they  entertained  for  him  and  the 
universal  confidence  they  had  in  him,  were  due  to  his 
thorough  knowledge  of  their  character,  habits  and 
wants,  and  to  the  fact  that  he  was,  in  all  his  rela 
tions  with  them,  and  with  others,  an  honest  and 
high-minded  merchant.  From  his  extensive  connec 
tion  with  them,  he  became  the  largest  fur  trader  in 
the  colonies  and  one  of  the  most  opulent  merchants 
in  the  city. 

The  restrictive  acts  of  Parliament,  however,  and 
the  general  colonial  policy  pursued  by  the  govern 
ment,  produced  an  injurious  effect  upon  the  com 
merce  and  industrial  interest  of  New  York,  and 
Hayman  Levy,  from  his  widely  extended  business 
was  among  the  first  to  feel  it.  He  failed  in  1768,  but 
so  productive  was  his  estate  and  so  well  had  his  busi 
ness  been  conducted,  that  his  assignees  were  enabled 
to  discharge  the  whole  of  his  indebtedness,  with 
interest.  All  his  property  was  destroyed  by  the  great 
fire  in  1776,  but  notwithstanding  this  additional 
calamity  he  was  enabled  to  carry  on  business  after 
wards  on  his  own  account  iintil  his  death  in 
1790. 

Upon  his  books  are  entries  of  monies  paid  to  John 
Jacob  Astor,  for  beating  furs,  at  the  rate  of  one  dollar 
a  day.  As  Mr.  Astor,  the  founder  of  the  colossal 
fortune  now  inherited  by  his  heirs,  came  to  New 
York  in  1784  and  began  business  on  his  own  account 


54  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

in  1786,  Hayman  Levy  was  probably  one  of  the  first 
persons  by  whom  he  was  employed.  In  1779,  a 
daughter  of  this  prominent  merchant,  Miss  Zeporah 
I/evy,  who  has  been  described  as  a  beautiful  woman, 
was  married  to  Benjamin  Hendricks,  a  native  of  this 
city,  the  founder  of  a  well-known,  long  maintained 
and  wealthy  commercial  house.  Mrs.  Hendricks 
survived  to  1833,  leaving  behind  her  seventy  grand 
children  . 

Another  prominent  Israelite  merchant  and  ship 
owner  of  this  period  was  Sampson  Simson.  He  has 
been  described  as  a  man  of  great  liberality,  humanity, 
and  ot  the  strictest  integrity,  sincere  and  unpretend 
ing  in  his  religious  convictions.  He  took  an  active 
part  among  the  patriotic  merchants  who  resisted  the 
aggressive  acts  of  the  British  Government,  and  died 
in  1775. 

Isaac  Gomez  was  also  a  well-known  Jewish  mer 
chant  of  that  time.  I  am  unable  to  say  whether  he 
belonged  to  the  family  of  that  name  previously 
referred  to,  or  whether  he  was  the  progenitor,  or  con 
nected  with  Abraham  and  Benjamin  Gomez,  the 
principals  of  a  leading  Jewish  commercial  house  in 
the  first  part  of  the  present  century.  (58.) 

58,  It  is  interesting  to  note  in  this  connection  ah  incident  to 
which  Prof.  Cyrus  Adler  recently  called  attention;  his  information 
was  based  on  an  unpublished  letter  of  Jared  Sparks.  "At  the  out- 
bteak  of  the  Revolutionary  War  a  Mr. Gomez  of  New  York  proposed 
to  a  member  of  the  Continental  Congress  that  he  form  a  com 
pany  of  soldiers  for  service.  The  member  of  Congress  remon 
strated  with  Mr.  Gomez  on  the  score  of  age,  he  then  being  68,  to 
which  Mr.  Gomez  replied  that  he  could  stop  a  bullet  as  well  as  a 
younger  man."  Report  of  Organization  American  Jewish  Histori 
cal  Society,  p.  n.  A  number  of  other  references  to  the  service  of 
Jews  in  the  American  army  during  the  Revo'ution  and  the  later 
Wars  are  at  hand,  but  it  would  lead  us  too  far  from  our  subject  to 
give  them  here.  Hon.  Simon  Wolf  will  soon  offer  us  the  fruits  of 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  55 

It  would    exceed   the  limits  I  have   proposed   to 
myself,  to  give  an  account  of  the  Israelites  who  have 
been  especially  prominent  in  New    York    after   the 
Revolution;  I  will  however,  mention  one,   as  he  was 
the  father  of  one  of  your  most  distinguished  mem 
bers,  Emanuel  B.  Hart.     Bernard   Hart  was  born  in 
England  in  1764.     He  came  to  this  country  in  1777, 
and  after  a  short  residence  in  Canada,  settled  in   the 
City  of  New  York  in  1780.     In  the  early  part  of  his 
career,  he  carried  on  some  commercial  transactions 
with  Canada, and  was  an  insurance  broker  until  about 
1802,  when  he  became  one  of  the  members  of  the  large 
auction  and  commission  house  of  Lispenard  and  Hart. 
In  1806,  he  married  a  daughter  of  Benjamin  Seixas,  a 
leading  Jewish  merchant  of  the  city,  the   lady  being 
one  of  eight  sisters,  all  of  whom  are  said  by  a  writer 
who  knew  them  to  have  been  remarkable  for   "their 
wonderful  beauty  and  exceeding  loveliness,    both  in 
person    and  character."  (59)     This  writer,  Joseph  A. 
Scovill,  who  had  been  himself  a  merchant,  speaks   of 
Mr.  Hart,  in  view  of  his  social  influences,  commercial 
position,  and   active    humanity,    as    "towering   aloft 
among  the  magnates  of  the  city  of  the  last  and  present 
century."     He  describes  him  during  the    prevalence 
of  the  Yellow  Fever  in  New  York,  in  1795,  as  unceas 
ing  in  his  exertions  night  and  day,  among   the  sick 
and  dying;  hardly  giving  himself  time  to  sleep  or  eat, 
in  his  unremitting  efforts  for  the  relief  of  the   suffer 
ing,  and  being — to  employ  the  language  of  the  writer 
—  an    angel  of  mercy  in  the  awful  days   of  that  great 
pestilence. 

his  labors  in  this  direction.  As  for  the  New  York  Jews,  it  speaks 
well  for  their  patriotism  that  so  many  should  have  migrated  to 
Philadelphia  just  before  the  British  occupation  of  New  York  City. 
Many  returned  to  New  York  subsequently. — EDITOR.' 

59.    Scovill's  "Old  Merchants"  of  New  York,  Vol.  II.  p,  125. 


56  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

He  was  the  founder  and  chief  officer  of  a  well- 
known  social  institution  of  the  period,  called  "The 
Friary,"  the  parent  of  our  present  Clubs,  and  a 
prominent  member  of  several  other  organizations,  of 
different  names,  composed  chiefly  of  merchants,  who 
met  in  the  evening  at  some  leading  tavern  for  the 
purpose  of  intercourse, and  to  discuss  business  matters, 
a  kind  of  social  and  commercial  exchange.  Upon 
the  formation  of  the  Board  of  Brokers  about  1818,  he 
became  the  Secretary  of  that  body,  which  position  he 
held  for  the  remainder  of  his  life,  dying  in  the  city  in 
1855,  at  the  advanced  age  of  91. 

Mr.  Scovill,  in  referring  to  the  small  number  of 
Jewish  merchants  in  this  city  in  the  early  part  of 
the  present  century,  and  the  great  contrast,  at  the 
period  at  which  he  was  writing  (1868),  concludes 
with  this  remark:  ''There  are  now,"  he  says,  "80,000 
Israelites  in  this  city,  and  it  is  the  high  standard  of 
excellence  of  the  Old  Israelite  Merchants  of  1800, 
that  has  made  the  race  occupy  the  proud  position  it 
now  holds  in  this  city  and  in  the  nation." 

About  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  but  in 
what  year  I  am  not  able  to  state,  the  Rev.  Joseph 
Isaac  Jerushalem  Pinto  became  the  minister  of  the 
synagogue  in  Mill  Street.  He  died  in  1763,  and  in 
1766  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Gershom  Seixas,  who 
continued  in  charge  of  the  congregation  for  the  long 
period  of  50  years.  Mr.  Seixas  was  a  man  much 
esteemed  not  only  among  his  own  people,  but  in  the 
community  generally.  He  was  a  Trustee  of  Columbia 
College,  from  1787  to  1815,  when  he  resigned,  an 
indication  of  the  respect  entertained  for  him,  as  the 
government  of  Columbia  College  has,  from  its  foun 
dation,  been  confided  almost  exclusively  to  Epis 
copalians.  He  died  in  1816,  and  was  succeeded  by 
Rev.  Moses  L.  M.  Peixotto.  The  synagogue  erected 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  57 

in  1728,  being  decayed,  was  torn  down  in  1818,  and 
a  new  stone  edifice,  33  by  58  feet,  was  erected  upon 
the  same  site(6o).  It  was  a  plain, unostentatious  build 
ing,  provided  in  the  interior  with  a  gallery  forfemales. 
Mr.  Peixotto,  when  placed  in  charge  of  the  con 
gregation,  was  a  merchant  in  Front  Street,  and  con 
tinued  to  follow  his  mercantile  calling  for  two  years 
afterwards.  In  1820,  he  withdrew  altogether  from 
business,  taking  up  his  residence  at  105  Greenwich 
Street,  from  which  he  removed  in  1822  to  15  Mill 
Street,  next  to  the  synagogue,  where  he  died  in  1827. 
He  was  a  learned  man,  thoroughly  versed  in 
Hebrew,  and  a  master  of  several  other  languages. 
I  remember  him  as  a  dark-featured,  square-built, 
middle-sized  man,  greatly  addicted  to  snuff- taking, 
who  spoke  English  with  a  strong  accent,  and  some 
what  imperfectly.  His  successor  was  the  Rev.  Isaac 
B.  Seixas,  a  nephew  of  the  former  incumbent  of  that 
name,  a  gentleman  very  much  esteemed,  who 
remained  in  his  charge  until  his  death,  in  1839,  when 
he  was  succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Jacques  J.  Lyons. 

In  1824,  a  portion  of  the  congregation,  consisting 
mainly  of  members  of  Polish  or  German  birth,  separ 
ated  from  the  synagogue  in  Mill  Street,  and  pur 
chasing  a  church  in  Blm  Street,  formed  a  distinct 
congregation  under  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hart,  who  was 
succeeded  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Meyer,  and  in  1839,  by 
the  Rev.  S.  M.  Isaacs.  In  1844,  Mr.  Isaacs,  with  a 
portion  of  the  members  withdrew,  and  formed  a  new 
congregation  in  Franklin  Street,  and  constituted, 
with  Mr.  Isaacs  their  minister,  the  synagogue  now  in 
44th  Street. 

In  1833,  the  congregation  in  Mill  Street  sold  the 
church  property  there,  and  erected  a  new  synagogue 

60)   Hardies  N.  Y.     p.  163. 


5  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

in  Crosby  Street,  near  Spring  Street,  which  they  also 
afterwards,  sold  and  erected  the  fine  synagogue  they 
now  occupy  in  igth  Street.  As  the  denomination 
have  since  greatly  multiplied  in  New  York,  it  would 
involve  too  much  detail  to  give  an  account  of  the  sub 
sequent  congregations.  It  will  suffice  to  say  that  the 
Jews  have  now  (1872)  in  New  York  29  synagogues, 
and  as  a  proportional  part  of  the  population,  they  are 
now  estimated  at  about  70,000.  (61) 

PENNSYLVANIA. 

My  information  is  very  meagre  respecting  the  early 
settlement  of  the  Jews  in  Pennsylvania.  Several  pro 
minent  families  were  established  at  Philadelphia,  in 
the  middle  of  the  last  century,  some  of  whom  were 
connected  with  those  in  New  York  (62).  The  Jews, 
both  of  Philadelphia  and  of  New  York,  with  few,  if 
any,  exceptions,  were  warm  adherents  of  the  Amer 
ican  Revolution.  Prominent  over  all  others,  of  the 
Jewish  persuasion,  was  Haym  Salomon.  He  was  a 
native  of  Poland.  When  he  came  to  this  country, 
I  do  not  know,  nor  do  I  know  anything  respecting 
him,  until  about  the  breaking  out  of  the  Revolution, 
when  he  was  a  man  of  large  private  fortune,  engaged 
in  commercial  pursuits,  of  great  financial  resources, 
and  ability,  and  of  the  highest  personal  integrity.  He 
espoused  the  cause  of  the  colonists,  with  great  ardor, 
and  supplied  the  government  from  his  own  means 

61 )  In  the   Supplementary    Chapter   written    by   Judge  Daly, 
for  this  series,  the   subject  is  continued.     Even  before  1833,  other 
Jewish  congregations   existed    in   New   York    City   besides  those 
named. — EDITOR. 

62)  At  the  recent  meeting  of  the  Jewish  Historical  Society,  held 
jn  Philadelphia,  several  interesting  -and  very  elaborate  papers  on 
the  early  history  of  the  Jews  in  Philadelphia  were  read.    No  doubt 
the  proceedings  of  the  Society,  the  first  volume  of  which  is  soon  to 
appear,  will  cast  much  new  light  on  the  subject. — EDITOR. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  59 

with  a  large  amount  of  money,  at  the  most  critical 
periods  of  the  struggle.  As  appeared  from  document 
ary  evidence,  afterwards  submitted  to  Congress,  he 
advanced  to  the  Government  altogether  $658,007.13, 
an  enormous  sum  at  that  period  for  a  private  individ 
ual,  when  all  commerce  and  busines  was  prostrated. 
But  in  addition  to  this,  he  supplied  delegates  to  Con 
gress  and  officers  of  the  army  and  of  the  government 
with  the  means  of  defraying  their  ordinary  expenses; 
among  whom  were  Jefferson,  Madison,  Lee,  Steuben, 
Mifflin,  St.  Clair,  Wilson,  Monroe,  and  Mercer. 
Madison  wrote  to  the  authorities  in  Virginia  in  1783, 
"  I  am  fast  relapsing  into  pecuniary  distress,  and  the 
case  of  my  brethren  is  especially  alarming.  I  have 
been  a  pensioner,  for  some  time,  upon  the  bounty  of 
Haym  Salomon.  I  am  almost  ashamed  to  reiterate 
my  wants  so  incessantly  to  you.  The  kindness  of 
Haym  Salomon  is  a  fund  that  will  preserve  me  from 
extremities,  but  I  never  resort  to  it  without  great  mor 
tification,  as  he  obstinately  rejects  all  recompense." 
Such  was  the  condition  of  many  of  our  public  men, 
at  this  period,  that  Robert  Morris,  writing  in  1783, 
said  that  many  of  them  could  not,  without  payment, 
perform  their  duties,  and  must  have  gone  to  jail  for 
the  debts  they  had  contracted  to  enable  them  to  live, 
had  they  not  received  private  assistance;  and  Robert 
Morris  himself,  in  1805,  became  an  inmate  of  a  debt 
or's  jail,  through  the  responsibilities  he  had  assumed, 
and  the  losses  he  had  sustained  in  his  efforts  as  its 
chief  financial  officer  to  sustain  the  government.  Mr. 
Salomon  was  taken  prisoner  as  early  as  1775,  and 
being  confined  at  New  York  in  that  lonesome  prison, 
the  Provost,  he  contracted  a  disease  which  caused 
his  death  towards  the  close  of  the  war.  He  died  before 
he  had  taken  any  steps  to  secure  a  reimbursement  by 
the  Government  of  the  large  amount  he  had  loaned 


6o 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 


it,  and  left  a  wife  and  four  small  children,  to  use  the 
language  of  a  Congressional  report,  uto  hazard  and 
neglect."  Applications  have  been  made  to  Congress 
by  his  heirs  for  the  repayment  of  the  amount  loaned, 
or  at  least'for  some  part  of  it.  These  applications  led 
to  the  most  thorough  searches  in  the  archives  of  the 
Government,  and  among  the  papers  of  Robert  Morris, 
but  nothing  was  found  showing  that  any  portion  of 
the  amount  had  ever  been  repaid.  Madison,  in  1827, 
urged  that  the  memorialists  might  be  indemnified; 
and  reports  in  their  favor  have  frequently  been  made  by 
Congressional  committees,  but  down  to  1864,  not  a 
dollar  has  been  paid  to  them,  a  fact,  I  regret  to  say, 
which  affords  support  to  the  oft-repeated  observations 
of  the  ingratitude  of  republics.  (63) 

In  1782,  the  synagogue  Mickve  Israel  was  erected 
in  Philadelphia,  in  Cherry  Street,  between  Third  and 
Fourth  Streets.  It  appears  from  the  Pennsylvania 
Archives  (64),  that  a  formal  invitation  was  extended 
to  the  President  and  other  officers  ot  Pennsylvania  to 
be  present  at  the  consecration  of  it,  and  that  the 
Trustees  were  Jonas  Phillips,  President;  Michael 
Gratz,  Solomon  Marache,  Solomon  M.  Cohen,  and 
Simon  Nathan.  It  appears  to  have  been  the  first  syn 
agogue  erected  in  that  city,  from  which  I  infer  that 
the  Jews  residents  there  before  that  period  must  have 
been  very  few  in  number.  In  1824,  it  wa$  replaced  by 
a  more  spacious  and  elegant  structure.  In  1825,  there 
were  two  synagogues,  and  in  1854,  five. 

Michael  Gratz,   one  of  the  trustees  above-named, 

63.  Hon. Simon  Wolf  has  very  recently  been  pressing  these  claims 
before  Congress,  on  behalf  of  the  descendants   of  Haym    Salo 
mon.  An  extremely  interesting  article  on  Mr.  Salomon's  services  was 
written  by  Mr  Wolf,  and  appeared  in  the  Reform  Advocates   first 
anniversary  number,  February  20,  1892. — EDITOR. 

64.  Vol.  X.  p.  701,  13  Penn.   Col.  367. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  6 1 

was  the  father  of  Rebecca  Gratz,  a  maiden  lady  of 
Philadelphia,  widely  known  there  in  all  social  circles, 
who  lived  to  an  advanced  age,  and  distinguished  not 
only  for  her  stately  carriage,  dignified  manners  and 
personal  beauty,  but  for  her  intellectual  superiority 
and  acquirements.  It  is  said  that  Scott  drew  his 
character  of  Rebecca  in  "  Ivanhoe  "  from  the  account 
he  received  of  this  interesting  woman  ;  that  when 
Lord  Jeffrey  visited  this  country  in  1814  to  marry 
Miss  Wilkes,  the  future  Lady  Jeffrey,  he  made  the 
acquaintance  of  Miss  Gratz  ;  that  he  was  struck  with 
her  beauty  and  dignified  character,  and  gave  such  a 
glowing  account  of  her  to  Scott  that  the  great  novel 
ist  embodied  the  description  he  received  in  the  char 
ter  of  Rebecca.  The  story  is  not  in  itself  improba 
ble,  as  Scott  is  known  to  have  drawn  several  of  his 
imaginary  characters  from  real  personages.  A  Phila 
delphia  newspaper  has  recently  published  this  story 
with  Washington  Irving  instead  of  Lord  Jeffrey, 
Irving  having  visited  Scott  about  a  year  before  the 
latter  wrote  "  Ivanhoe."  The  writer  adds  that 
Rebecca  Gratz  inspired  Irving  with  the  warmest 
regard  he  ever  gave  to  any  woman  ;  that  she  was  the 
subject  of  his  addresses  at  her  house  in  Philadelphia, 
until  she  convinced  him  that  no  argument  would 
ever  induce  her  to  forego  her  faith  by  marrying 
a  Christian.  Irving  knew  Miss  Gratz,  and  Joseph 
Gratz,  her  brother  or  relative,  was  one  of  his  early 
intimates,  which  is  about  all  the  foundation  the  writer 
had,  I  apprehend,  for  this  statement.  In  addition, 
Lockhart  says  that  the  introduction  of  the  Jewish 
character  in  "Ivanhoe"  was  suggested  to  Scott  by 
his  friend,  Mr.  Skene,  in  the  early  part  of  1819,  long 
after  Mr.  Irving' s  visit,  whilst  the  great  writer  was 
suffering  from  severe  illness  ;  that  Mr.  Skene  had 
passed  some  time  in  his  youth  in  Germany,  where  he 


62  JEWS    IN   NORTH   AMERICA 

had  seen  much  of  the  Jews,  of  whom,  whilst  he  was 
attending  his  sick  friend,  he  recounted  many  of  his 
reminiscences  ;  and  partly  in  seriousness,  and  partly 
to  turn  Scott's  mind  upon  something  that  might 
divert  it  in  his  illness,  Mr.  Skene  suggested  that  a 
group  of  Jews  would  be  an  interesting  feature  if  Scott 
could  contrive  to  bring  them  into  his  next  novel  ;  that 
after  the  appearance  of  "  Ivanhoe",  Scott  called  Mr. 
Skene' s  attention  to  this  conversation  with  the  re 
mark  :  "  You  will  find  this  book  owes  not  a  little  to 
your  German  reminiscences."  (65.) 

It  is  very  probable  that  the  name  of  Rebecca  and 
the  resemblance  of  Miss  Gratz  in  person  and  character 
to  the  Jewish  maiden  that  Scott  has  immortalized, 
was  all  the  foundation  there  was  for  this  story,  which 
for  half  a  century  has  been  current  in  social  circles 
in  Philadelphia  and  New  York.  She  seems  to  have 
been  in  every  way  worthy  of  Scott's  ideal,  for  she 
had  all  Rebecca's  devotion  to  her  ancient  faith,  and 
attachment  to  her  people,  and  throughout  her  life 
gave  a  certain  portion  of  her  time  to  unostentatious 
acts  of  benevolence  in  the  relief  of  the  wretched  and 
suffering.  • 

MARYLAND. 

Maryland  (66)  has  frequently  been  referred  to  as 
among  the  first  of  the  colonies  which,  in  the  lan 
guage  of  Bancroft,  "adopted  religious  freedom  as 
the  basis  of  the  State."  (67.)  It  did,  but  with  this 

65.  Lockhart's  "  Life  of  Scott,"  Vol.  6,  pp.  178  and  179. 

66.  Much  new  light  on  the  early  history  of  the  Jews  in  Mary 
land  was  cast  by  the  able  paper  already  referred   to   on   Jacob 
Lombroso;  read  by  Mr.  J.  H.  Hollander,  at  the  recent  meeting  of 
the  American  Jewish   Historical  Society.     Hon.   Oscar  S.  Straus 
has   kindly  called  my  attention    to  interesting   data   on  the  his 
tory  of  the  Jews  of    Maryland  contained   in  a  book  of  speeches 
on  the  "  Jew  Bill,''  1824,  edited  by  Brackenridge,  in  his  possession. 

67.  Bancroft's  "  History  of  the  U.S.,"  p.  256.  Langford,  27-32, 


JEWS   IN   NORTH   AMERICA  63 

qualification  :  that  it  was  limited  to  those  within  the 
province  professing  to  believe  in  Jesus  Christ,  and 
was  accompanied  by  a  proviso  which  declared  that 
any  person  who  denied  the  Trinity  should  be  pun 
ished  with  death.  Maryland  was,  therefore,  no  place 
for  Jews  ;  and  even  after  the  Revolution,  by  the  bill 
of  rights  and  constitution  of  Maryland,  no  one  could 
hold  any  employment  of  profit  or  confidence  under 
u  the  State"  without  signing  a  declaration  that  he 
believed  in  the  Christian  religion  ;  and  this  exclu 
sion  of  all  of  the  Jewish  faith  was  retained  for  a  long 
time  after  the  War  of  Independence.  Efforts 
were  made  in  the  Legislature  in  1801  and  1804  to 
obtain  the  repeal  of  this  intolerant  provision,  but 
upon  each  occasion  more  than  two-thirds  of  the  mem 
bers  voted  against  its  repeal.  These  efforts  were 
renewed  in  1819,  when  a  very  able  report  was  sub 
mitted  by  the  committee  to  whom  the  subject  was 
referred,  recommending  that  there  should  be  no 
religious  test  whatever,  together  with  a  bill  to  effect 
that  object.  The  tenacity,  in  fact,  with  which  Mary 
land  adhered  to  this  provision  had  been  previously 
widely  discussed  over  the  whole  country,  and  uni 
versally  condemned  in  other  States.  John  Adams, 
in  a  letter  written  in  1818,  gave  expression  to  the 
wish  that  "  the  Jews  might  be  admitted  to  all 
the  privileges  of  citizens  of  every  country  of  the 
world,  and  that  in  this  country,  especially,  we 
ought  to  annul  every  narrow  idea  in  religion,  gov 
ernment  and  commerce."  Jefferson  and  Madison 
were  equally  explicit  in  their  condemnation  of  this 
intolerant  restriction,  but  when  the  bill,  reported  by 
the  committee,  came  up  in  the  Legislature,  it  was 
rejected,  about  the  same  proportion  of  members 
voting  against  it  (68).  In  a  few  years  afterwards, 

68.     Niles'  "  Register,"  Vol.  15,  p.  388.    Suppl.  p.  9  13. — ED. 


64  JEWS    IN   NORT   AM* RICA 

however,  the  provision  was  repealed,  and  in  1824 
two  gentlemen  of  the  Jewish  persuasion  were  elected 
members  of  the  City  Council  of  Baltimore,  being  the 
first  persons  of  that  denomination  who  had  held  office 
in  Maryland.  (69.) 

GEORGIA. 

The  great  number  of  persons  that  were  confined  in 
jails  in  England  for  debt,  and  the  injurious  effects  of 
prison  life  upon  their  habits,  manners,  and  prospects 
of  future  usefulness,  induced  General  Oglethorpe  to 
set  on  foot  a  scheme  for  establishing  a  colony  in 
America  between  the  Alteinaha  and  Savannah  River, 
to  which  this  class  and  other  destitute  persons  in  Great 
Britian  might  be  sent  with  the  prospect  of  beginning 
the  world  anew,  their  passage  being  paid,  the  use  of 
a  tract  of  land  being  given  to  each  of  them  for  the 
period  of  ten  years,  and  provision  being  made  for  their 
support  for  the  first  year.  A  charter  was  obtained, 
accompanied  by  a  liberal  grant  of  money  from  Parlia 
ment,  a  company  was  organized,  consisting  of  twenty- 
one  trustees,  who  were  clothed  with  plenary  power  for 
the  government  of  the  colony,  and  the  additional 
funds  requisite  for  this  very  expensive  undertaking 
were  to  be  raised  by  public  subscription.  The  scheme 
gave  rise  to  a  great  deal  of  public  enthusiasm,  and 
its  benevolent  projector,  Oglethorpe,  who  was  one  of 
the  trustees,  went  out  with  115  of  this  class  of  persons, 
to  what  is  now  the  State  of  Georgia  to  found  the  new 
colony. 

On  the  day,  the  ;th  of  July,  1733,  that  Oglethorpe 
had  assembled  the  colonists,  on  the  site  of  the  present 
city  of  Savannah,  for  the  purpose  ofallotingto  each 
settler  his  proportion  of  land,  and  of  organizing  a 
municipal  government,  a  vessel  directly  from  London, 

69.     Sharf's  "  Chronicles  of  Baltimore,'1  p.  240. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  65 

came  up  the  Savannah  River,  whilst  the  colonists 
were  partaking  of  a  public  dinner,  given  at  the  close 
of  the  day's  proceedings,  and  landed  forty  Jewish 
emigrants.  Their  arrival  was  not  expected,  for  the 
London  company  knew  nothing  of  this  emigration, 
until  the  vessels  containing  the  emigrants,  had  left. 
The  trustees  of  the  company  had  commissioned  three 
persons  in  London,  Anthony  Da  Costa,  Francis  Sal 
vador,  and  Alvarez  Lopez  Suasso,  to  obtain  sub 
scriptions.  They  collected  a  sum  of  money,  but  instead 
of  paying  it  into  the  Bank  of  England,  which  had 
been  selected  as  the  place  of  deposit  for  subscriptions, 
they  appropriated  it  towards  sending  out  this  body 
of  Jewish  emigrants.  When  the  trustees  had  been 
informed  of  what  had  been  done,  they  were  very 
indignant  and  vacated  the  "commission,"  given  to 
these  gentlemen,  that  "the  public  mind  might  be 
disabused  of  any  intention  to  make  a  Jews'  colony  of 
Georgia."  They  used  every  effort  to  undo  what  had 
been  done.  They  urged  Da  Costa,  Salvador,  and 
Suasso,  to  use  their  endeavors  to  have  the  Jews, 
who  had  emigrated,  removed  from  the  colony,  and 
wrote  to  Oglethorpe,  informing  him  of  the  departure 
of  these  Jewish  emigrants,  "expressing  the  hope  that 
they  would  receive  no  encouiagemeutfrom  him,"  and 
that  he  would  "use  his  best  endeavors  to  prevent  their 
settling  in  Georgia,  as  it  would  be  prejudicial  to  the 
trade  and  welfare  of  the  colony." 

In  the  judgment  of  a  writer  who  has  commented 
upon  this  proceeding  (70)  this  course  upon  the  part 
of  the  trustees  was  necessary,  as  the  money  essential 
to  carry  on  the  enterprise,  had  to  be  obtained  by  pub 
lic  subscriptions  which  would  have  been  materially 
diminished,  had  it  been  understood  that  it  was  the 

70.     Steven's  History  ot  Georgia,  Vol.  i,  p.  102. 


66  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

intention  of  the  trustees  to  encourage  the  emigration 
of  Jews.  This  was  probably  true,  and  it  shows  how 
unreasonable  and  deep-seated  was  the  prejudice  at 
that  time  in  England  against  people  of  the  Jewish 
persuasion,  when  it  was  supposed  that  the  prospects 
of  a  colony,  to  be  composed  in  a  large  degree  of  the 
inmates  of  jails,  would  have  been  injured  if  Jews  were 
allowed  to  go  and  settle  there. 

General  Oglethorpe  was  a  chivalric,  high-toned  and 
benevolent  man,  upon  whom  the  arrival  of  these  Jew 
ish  emigrants  had  a  very  different  effect  from  that  it 
had  upon  his  London  associates.  He  regarded  them 
as  a  valuable  acquisition,  and,  before  he  received 
the.  letter  of  the  trustees,  he  had  dispatched  a  letter  to 
them  commendatory  of  the  new  emigrants,  dwelling 
upon  their  good  conduct  and  calling  the  attention  of 
the  trustees  especially  to  one  of  their  number,  Dr. 
Nunis,  for  his  humane  attention  to  the  sick  and  many 
other  valuable  services.  (71).  It  would  have  been  ex 
traordinary,  indeed,  if  he  had  done  otherwise,  for  as  a 
body  they  were  in  marked  contrast  with  the  other 
settlers,  the  majority  of  whom,  from  their  previous 
habits  and  associations,  were  practically  useless  as 
colonists,  being  idle,  dissolute  and  mutinous,  and  had 
the  settlement  of  the  colony  depended  upon  them,  it 
would  never  have  been  accomplished.  These  Jewish 
emigrants,  on  the  contrary,  were  industrious  and 
orderly,  and  had  among  them  several  men  of  high  in 
telligence.  (72)  One  of  their  number  was  the  princi 
pal  physician;  another,  Abraham  De  Lyon,  was  a  horti 
culturist,  who  introduced  successfully  useful  foreign 
plants,  and  in  the  cultivation  of  the  vine  labored  assi 
duously  to  make  Georgia  a  grape-growing  country ; 

71.  Stephens'  Journal   of  Proceedings    in  Georgia,   Vol  I.,  p.  48. 
Stevens'  History  of  Georgia,  p.  101-104. 

72.  Graham's  History  of  North  America,  Vol.  I. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  6^ 

whilst  another  was  afterwards  the  principal  merchant 
of  the  colony,  having  extensive  transactions  with 
Oglethorpe  and  the  London  Company.  In  fact,  had 
it  not  been  for  these  Jewish  emigrants,  and  the  arrival 
afterwards  of  a  congregation  of  Moravians,  and  of  a 
small  body  of  Highlanders  from  Scotland,  this  philan 
thropic  scheme  would  have  failed  in  its  inception  as 
the  class  for  whose  benefit  it  was  specially  intended, 
would  neither  labor  effectually  as  agriculturists,  nor 
could  they  be  depended  on  as  soldiers,  to  protect  the 
colony  from  the  Spaniards,  who  threatened  its  very 
existence.  (73) 

Oglethorpe's  letter  produced  but  little  effect  upon 
the  London  trustees.  They  expressed  their  acknow 
ledgments  for  the  kindness  of  the  good  physician,  Dr. 
Nuuis,  in  an  especially  English  way,  by  requesting 
Oglethorpe  to  give  him  a  proper  gratuity  for  his  med 
ical  services,  and  in  adherence  to  their  original  reso 
lution,  instructed  Oglethorpe  to  withhold  from  the 
Jewish  residents  any  grants  of  laud  in  the  province. 
Oglethorpe,  probably,  did  not  comply  with  these  in 
structions,  for  to  have  done  so,  in  the  language  of  a 
Georgia  historian,  would  have  been  to  have  stripped 
the  colony  of  some  of  the  most  worthy  and  industrious 
of  its  inhabitants.  (74)  But  that  result  was  in  time 
brought  about  by  the  unwise  policy  of  not  allowino 
the  colonists  to  manage  their  own  affairs,  and  of 
attempting  to  govern  them  exclusively  by  the  will  of 
a  London  corporation.  No  scheme  of  colonization 
was  perhaps  ever  undertaken  with  more  disinterested 

73.  A  more  detailed  account  of  some  of  the  early  experiences  of 
the  Jews  in  Georgia  was  contained  in   a   paper  by  Col.  Charles  C. 
Jones,  read  before  the  American  Jewish  Historical  Society.     But  he 
does  not  appear  to  have  had  any  knowledge  of  the  Sheftail  Mss. 
referred  to  by  Judge  Daly  at  some  length.— EDITOR. 

74.  Stevens'  History  of  Georgia,  Vol.  I ,  p.  102. 


68  JEWS    IN    NORTH   AMERICA 

motives,  or  more  completely  counteracted  from  want 
of  knowledge  or  judgment  in  the  carrying  out  of  its 
details.  It  was,  in  fact,  an  attempt  to  revive  in  the 
primitive  forests  of  America  the  decaying  feudal  sys 
tem  of  Europe,  and  being  impossible  in  the  settlement 
of  a  new  country,  the  persistent  attempt  to  carry  it 
out  had  no  other  effect  but  to  retard  the  growth  of 
the  colony. 

Information  of  a  very  reliable  nature  in  respect  to 
this  Jewish  emigration  to  Savannah,  has  been  pre 
served  in  the  narrative  of  one  of  the  emigrants,  Ben 
jamin  Sheftail,  which  was  continued  by  his  son,  Mor- 
decai  Sheftail.  This  narrative  contains  the  names  of 
the  first  emigrants,  (75)  and  the  events  that  occurred 
respecting  them  and  their  successors  to  a  period  be 
yond  the  American  Revolution.  It  appears  from  this 
narrative  that  the  vessel  in  which  they  embarked  was 
commanded  by  Beverly  Robinson,  that  she  sustained 
an  injury  in  the  River  Thames,  which  involved  con 
siderable  delay  for  repairs;  that  the  passage  out  was  a 
boisterous  one,  the  vessel  encountering  successive 
gales,  by  one  of  which  she  was  nearly  wrecked  off  the 
coast  of  North  Carolina,  running  into  an  inlet  where 
she  was  detained  several  weeks.  And  this  narrative 
differs  from  the  other  historical  sources  of  information 
in  the  statement,  that  the  vessel  arrived  in  Savannah 

75.  Their  names  were  as  follows:  Doctor  Nunis,  Mrs.  Nunis, 
his  mother,  Daniel  Nunis,  Moses  Nunis,  Sipra  Nunis,  Shem  Noah, 
their  servant,  Isaac  Nunez  Henriques,  his  wife,  and  Shem.  their 
son;  Raphael  Bornal  and  his  wife,  David  Olivera.  Jacob  Olivera, 
and  his  wife,  David  and  Isaac,  their  sons,  and  Leah  their  daughter, 
Aaron  Depivea,  Benjamin  Gideon,  Jacob  Costa,  David  Lopass» 
Depass  and  wife,  Vene  Real,  Molena,  David  Moranda,  David 
Cohen,  his  wife,  Isaac,  their  son  Abigail,  Hannah  and  Grace,  their 
daughters;  Abraham  Minis,  his  wife,  and  Leah  and  Esther,  their 
daughters,  Simeon  Minis,  the  brother  of  Abraham,  Jacob  Towell, 
Benjamin  Sheftail  and  wife,  and  Abraham  Delyou. 


JEWS   IN   NORTH   AMERICA  69 

on  the  nth  of  July,  1733,  four  days  after  the  assign 
ing  of  the  lots  by  Oglethorpe  to  the  settlers.  (76.) 

Mr.  Levi  Sheftail,  in  whose  possession  the  manu 
script  was  thirty  years  ago,  states  that  the  writer  of 
it,  Benjaniin  Sheftail  told  his  sons,  Mordecai  and 
Levi,  and  which  they  frequently  repeated  to  their 
descendants,  that  the  Jewish  emigrants  of  1733  paid 
their  passage  and  laid  in  "all  necessary  supplies  for  the 
voyage,  so  that  they  were  in  no  wise  dependent  on  the 
favor  or  charity  of  the  British  crown  for  one  dollar  to 
facilitate  their  emigration."  This  can  scarcely  be 
correct  in  view  of  what  occurred  in  London  after 
their  departure.  Some  of  them  may  have  done  so, 
and  Benjamin  Sheftail  may  have  been  one  of  that 
number.  The  truth  probably  was,  as  he  stated,  that 
they  were  in  no  wise  dependent  upon  the  charity  of 
the  British  crown,  for  the  reason  that  the  money,  to 
facilitate  the  emigration  of  the  whole  body,  was  raised 
by  subscription,  among  their  co-religionists,  by  the 
three  persons  before  named. 

Pievious  to  their  departure,  articles  used  in  the 
ceremonial  service  of  the  synagogue  were  presented 
to  them  by  a  friend  in  London,  and  one  of  their  first 
acts  after  their  arrival  was  to  establish  a  synagogue. 
Constituting  as  they  did  nearly  one-third  of  the  actual 
settlers  they  had  a  large  congregation,  and  according 
ly  they  rented  a  house  on  the  Market  Square  in  Savan 
nah,  for  their  synagogue,  to  which  they  gave  the 
name  of  Mickve  (assemblage)  Israel,  and  where 
religious  services  were  regularly  held  for  some  years. 
After  the  establishment  of  their  place  of  worship, 
other  articles  for  the  synagogue  and  a  donation  of 
books  was  sent  out  to  them  by  Benjamin  Mendez  of 
London. 

With  the  capacity  and  the  disposition  to  aid  inate- 

76.     The  Occident,  Vol.   I.  p.  379. 


70  JEWS   IN   NORTH    AMERICA 

rially  in  the  advancement  of  the  colony,  they  had 
little  to  encourage  them  after  the  final  departure  of 
Oglethorpe.  The  Trustees  were  not  only  hostile  to 
them,  but  the  policy  which  this  body  pursued  in  the 
government  of  Georgia  was  detrimental  to  its  progress. 
Placed  as  they  were  under  civil  disabilities,  and  sub 
ject  with  the  rest  of  the  population  to  the  foolish  re 
strictions  imposed  by  this  London  company,  many  of 
them  gradually  withdrew  to  South  Carolina,  where 
no  such  restrictions  existed,  and  settled  in  Charleston, 
attracted  by  the  superior  commercial  advantage  of 
that  rising  city.  By  the  year  1742,  their  numbers 
were  so  diminished  in  Savannah,  that  the  services  in 
the  synagogue  had  to  be  discontinued,  and  at  last  but 
three  families  of  the  original  settlers  remained  :  the 
Sheftails,  Minises  and  De  Lyons. 

In  about  a  quarter  of  a  century,  however,  some  of 
those  who  went  to  Charleston,  returned  Among 
these  was  Mordecai  Sheftail,  described  as  "a  man  of 
exemplary  piety,  who  adhered  closely  to  all  the  rites 
and  ceremonies  of  his  faith."  In  1773,  he  gave  a 
piece  of  land  for  a  burial-  ground,  the  mode  of  con 
veying  which  shows  the  care  that  was  taken  to  pre 
vent  the  land  ever  being  applied  to  any  other  use.  It 
was  conveyed  in  trust  to  eight  trustees,  widely  apart 
as  follows:  Abraham  Hart  and  Joseph  Gomperts  of 
London,  Sampson  Simson  and  Joseph  Simson,  of 
New  York,  Isaac  Hart  and  Jacob  Riviera,  of  Newport, 
R.  I.,  and  Philip  Minis  and  Levi  Sheftail,  of  Savan 
nah.  It  will  have  been  observed  in  the  previous 
course  of  this  narrative,  that  both  in  this  and  the 
preceding  century,  the  Jews  are  frequently  referred 
to  as  a  distinct  people,  the  term  commonly  applied  to 
them  being  "The  Hebrew  Nation,"  which  on  their 
part,  it  would  seem,  they  themselves  encouraged  and 
kept  up.  The  conveyance  of  this  burial-ground  to 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  7! 

trustees  living  in  three  cities  of  this  country,  where 
their  people  had  settled,  and  in  London,  is  an  indi 
cation  of  this  feeling. 

Winterbotham,  who  wrote  what  he  called  "An 
Historical  and  Geographical  and  Commercial  View 
of  the  United  States,"  a  few  years  after  its  separation 
from  Great  Britain,  gives  a  short  account  of  the  Jews 
in  the  different  places  in  the  United  States,  where 
they  had  settled,  and  in  speaking  of  the  Jews  of 
Charleston,  S.  C.,  says:  "The  Jews  in  Charleston, 
among  other  peculiarities,  in  burying  their  dead,  have 
these:  After  the  funeral  dirge  is  snug,  and  justb  efore 
the  corpse  is  deposited  in  the  grave,  the  coffin  is 
opened,  and  a  small  bag  of  earth,  taken  from  the 
grave,  is  carefully  put  under  the  head  of  the  deceased; 
then  some  powder,  said  to  be  earth  brought  from  Jeru 
salem,  and  carefully  kept  for  this  purpose,  is  taken  and 
put  upon  the  eyes  of  the  corpse,  in  token  of  their 
remembrance  of  the  Holy  Land,  and  of  their  expecta 
tions  of  returning  thither  in  God's  appointed  time;" 
to  which  he  adds:  "The  articles  of  their  faith  are  well- 
known,  and,  therefore,  need  no  description.  They 
generally  expect  a  glorious  return  to  the  Holy  Land, 
when  they  shall  be  exalted  above  all  the  nations  of 
the  earth.  And  they  flatter  themselves  that  the 
period  of  their  return  will  speedily  arrive,  though 
they  do  not  pretend  to  fix  the  precise  time."  (77). 

There  being,  again,  in  Savannah  a  sufficient  num 
ber  of  Jews  in  1774  to  form  a  congregation,  Mordecai 
Sheftail  fitted  up  a  room  in  his  own  house  for  their 
accommodation,  where  they  continued  to  worship, 
their  number  being  gradually  augmented,  until  the 
breaking  out  of  the  American  Revolution  (78). 

In  that  struggle  the  Jews  of  Savannah  and  Charles- 

77.     Winterbotham,  vol.  i.  p.  394. 
?8.      The  Occident,  vol.  i,  p.  487. 


72  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

ton  joined  the  Revolutionary  party,  and  appear  to  have 
adhered  to  it  with  unwavering  fidelity.  Sheftail,  the 
son  of  Mordecai,  held  some  military  position,  and 
fought  bravely  when  the  Britishers  were  repulsed  in 
their  assault  upon  Savannah. 

Immediately  after  the  close  of  the  Revolution 
many  Israelites  arrived  in  Savannah  and  made  it 
their  place  of  residence.  Their  numbers  being  now 
considerably  augmented,  they  re-established  their 
congregation  on  the  yth  of  July,  1786,  having  as 
their  place  of  worship  a  dwelling-house,  hired  for 
the  purpose.  On  the  3oth  of  November,  1790,  a 
charter  was  obtained,  creating  Levi  Sheftail,  Shef 
tail  Sheftail,  Cushman  Polock,  Joseph  Abrahams, 
Mordecai  Sheftail,  Abraham  Depass  and  Emanuel 
De  La  Motta,  and  their  successors,  a  religious  cor 
poration,  under  the  name  of  "  The  Parnass  and 
Adjuntas  of  Mickva  Israel  of  Savannah"  (79). 

The  religious  exercises  of  this  body  were  conducted 
for  many  years  by  Dr.  De  La  Motta,  one  of  the  incor- 
porators,  who  served  gratuitously,  and  through  whose 
exertions  a  building  was  erected  for  a  synagogue  in 
1820,  upon  a  lot  presented  by  the  city.  At  its  con 
secration  a  discourse  was  delivered  by  Dr.  De  La 
Motta,  which  attracted  the  attention  of  Thomas  Jef 
ferson  and  James  Madison.  Jefferson  speaks  of  it  as 
an  eloquent  production,  which  excited  in  him  "the 
gratifying  reflection  that  his  own  country  had  been 
the  first  to  prove  to  the  world  two  truths  the  most 
salutary  to  human  society:  that  man  can  govern  him- 


79.  The  officers  of  the  congregation  of  1786  were:  Phillip 
Minis,  Parnas  ;  David  N.  Cardoza,  Gabay  ;  Levi  Sheftail,  Cush 
man  Polock,  Joseph  Abrahams,  Adj^^ntas ;  Emanuel  De  La 
Motta,  Hazan ;  and  Levy  Abrahams,  Secretary,  The  incor- 
porators  of  1790  were  Levi  Sheftail,  Sheftail  Sheftail,  Cushman 
Polock,  Joseph  Abrahams,  Mordecai  Sheftail,  Abraham  Depass 
and  Emanuel  De  La  Motta.— EDITOR. 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  73 

self,  and  that  religious  freedom  is  the  best  array  done 
against  religious  discussion."  He  expressed  great 
satisfaction  at  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  to  their 
social  rights,  and  coupled  with  a  hope  that  has  since 
been  realized,  that  they  would  soon  be  found  taking 
their  position  in  science  preparatory  to  doing  the 
same  in  government.  Madison,  in  referring  to  the 
discourse,  says,  "The  history  of  the  Jews  must  be 
forever  interesting.  The  modern  part  of  it  is  at  the 
same  time  so  little  generally  known  that  every  light 
on  the  subject  has  its  value.  Among  the  features 
peculiar  to  the  political  system  of  the  United  States 
is  the  perfect  equality  of  rights  which  it  secures  to 
every  religious  sect,  and  it  is  particularly  pleasing  to 
observe  in  the  good  citizenship  of  such  as  have  been 
most  distrusted  and  oppressed  elsewhere,  a  happy 
illustration  of  the  safety  and  success  of  this  experi 
ment  of  a  just  and  beneficent  policy."  The  syna 
gogue  was  a  small  wooden  building,  exceedingly 
plain  in  its  exterior,  which  stood  alone  in  a  broad, 
open  space  outside  the  city,  called  "  The  Common," 
but  which  is  now  a  compact  and  populated  part  of 
Savannah.  This  synagogue  was  destroyed  by  fire  in 
1829,  at]d  was  replaced  by  a  substantial  structure  of 
brick. 

I  passed  a  portion  of  my  youth  in  Savannah  forty- 
five  years  ago,  and  at  that  time  the  Jewish  residents, 
as  a  body,  held  a  position  as  distinguished,  if  not 
more  so,  as  any  other  class  of  the  population* 
They  were  a  recognized  part  of  the  aristocracy  of  the 
city,  being,  many:  of  them,  the  Sheftails,  the  Minises 
and  the  De  Lyons -direct  descendants  of  the  first  set 
tlers,  the  only  kind  of  aristocracy,  if  it  may  be  called 
such,  that  has  ever  received  any  recognition  in  this 
country.  There  was  at  that  time,  and  there  is  still, 
especially  in  the  South,  an  implied  recognition  of  old 
families,  which  usually  means,  in  the  American  sense, 


74  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

those  whose  ancestors  came  to  this  country  either 
before  or  soon  after  the  American  Revolution,  and  who 
have  at  least  sufficient  wealth  to  keep  up  what  is 
required  in  their  social  position.  The  Jews  of 
Savannah  were  nearly  all  of  this  class.  They  had 
not  augmented  proportionately  with  the  growth  of 
the  population,  for  but  comparatively  few  of  their 
co-religionists  had  come  to  settle  in  Savannah  after 
1799.  The  families  were  all  within  reasonable  limits 
wealthy,  either  through  inherited  wealth  or  being 
engaged  in  pursuits  in  which  wealth  gradually  is  accu 
mulated.  The  largest  merchant,  the  leading  lawyer 
and  the  principal  physician  of  the  city  at  that  time 
were  of  their  number,  and  they  continued  to  main 
tain  this  position,  for  in  1843,  tne  High  Sheriff,  the 
principal  Judge  of  the  city  and  the  Collector  of  the 
Port,  were  Jews  (80). 

But  they  had  a  more  substantial  claim  to  the  pub 
lic  respect.  As  a  body,  they  had  been  uniformly  dis 
tinguished  for  their  probity,  their  high  sense  of  per 
sonal  honor,  their  courteous  manners  and  their  charity 
and  benevolence  exercised  in  relieving  the  wants  of 
their  fellow- citizens  of  all  denominations.  I  recall, 
amid  the  recollections  of  that  period,  Sheftail  Shef- 
tail,  Ksq.,  the  son  of  Mordecai  and  the  grandson  of 
Benjamin,  the  first  settler,  then  a  venerable  and  most 
striking-looking  old  man,  habited  in  the  garb  of 
Franklin— a  wide,  spread  coat,  a  huge  cocked  hat, 
knee  breeches  and  large  silver  buckles  on  his  shoes, 
who  was  to  be  seen  every  day  in  fine  weather,  as  I  have 
seen  him,  walking  with  a  slow  and  stately  step  up  and 
down  the  long  piazza  of  his  colonial-built  house  in 
Broughton  Street. 

The  Jews  who  settled  in  Charleston  were  more 
prosperous,  and  their  increase  in  numbers  from 


80.      The  Occident,  vol.  I,  p.  250. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  75 

Europe,  New  York,  and  Newport,  was  much  greater 
than  in  Savannah.  They  formed  themselves  into  a 
religious  society  in  1750,  worshiping  for  seven  years  in 
a  small  wooden  house  in  Union  near  Queen  Street, each 
year  bringing  an  accession  to  their  numbers.  They 
purchased  a  burial  ground  in  1757,  and  removed  their 
place  of  worship  to  a  larger  building  in  King  Street; 
and  finally  in  1781,  they  bought  a  large  brick  edifice, 
which  they  altered  into  a  permanent  synagogue.  In 
1791,  they  were  incorporated  into  a  religious  society, 
and  at  the  time  consisted  of  fifty-one  families, number 
ing  in  all  about  400  persons  (81).  In  two  years  from 
this  period,  they  had  increased  so  rapidly  that  their 
place  of  worship  was  found  to  be  too  small,  and  a  new 
and  more  spacious  edifice  was  erected  at  a  cost  of 
$20,000, which  was  consecrated  with  imposingceremon- 
ies  in  1791.  I  shall  not  expand  the  account  of  thejews- 
in  Charleston  (82)  further  than  to  remark  that  the 

Si.     The  Occident,  Vo!,  I,  p.  384. 

82.  Much  interesting  information  in  regard  to  the  Jews  of 
Charleston  and  elsewhere  derived  from  Mr.  Isaac  Harby  is  con 
tained  in  an  article  in  the  North  American  Review  for  July,  1826, 
by  S.  Gilman.  While  the  article  deals  chiefly  with  the  inception  of 
the  Reform  Movement  among  the  Jews  of  Charleston,  it  gives  an 
interesting  census  of  the  Jews  of  the  United  States  and  other  infor 
mation.  He  says,  for  instance  :  "  In  Georgia  and  South  Carolina 
several  Jews  honorably  bore  arms  in  the  Revolutionary  War.  My 
natural  grandfather  contributed  pecuniary  aid  to  South  Carolina, 
ard  particularly  to  Charleston,  when  besieged  by  the  British.  My 
father-in-law  was  a  brave  grenadier  in  the  regular  American  army, 
and  fought  and  bled  for  the  liberty  he  lived  to  enjoy  and  to  hand 
down  to  his  children.  Numerous  instances  of  patriotism  are 
recorded  of  such  Israelites."  Mr.  Harby  estimated  the  number  of 
Jews  in  the  United  States  in  1826  as  6,000,  divided  about  as  fol 
lows  :  New  England,  300-400  ;  Pennsylvania,  300-400;  New  York, 
950  ;  Virginia,  400  ;  North  Carolina,  400  ;  South  Carolina,  1,200  \ 
Georgia,  400;  Florida,  30  or  40;  Louisiana,  ico  ;  and  the  re 
mainder  scattering. 

In  the  series  of  articles    on  the  Jews  of  Charleston,    which 


76  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

rapid  increase  of  their  members,  immediately  after 
the  American  Revolution,  was  owing  in  a  great 
degree  to  the  many  Jews  who  quitted  New  York  after 
that  period,  and  settled  in  Charleston,  as  a  place 
where  their  capital  and  industry  would  bemoreavail- 
able.  They  brought  wealth  and  business  capacity  to 
this  southern  city,  where  the  Jews  continued  to  be, 
down  to  the  breaking  out  of  the  late  Civil  War,  a 
prosperous  and  influential  part  of  the  business  com 
munity.  The  Charleston  Jews  of  the  earlier  period 
are  described  as  exceedingly  orthodox  in  their  rigid 
conformity  to  the  written  and  oral  laws  of  their 
religion,  severe  penalties  and  forfeiture  of  the  honors 
of  the  Synagogue  being  enforced  by  a  supervisory 
body  among  them  somewhat  analogous  to  the  con. 
sistorial  courts  in  Europe.  Like  their  brethren  in 
Savannah,  they  were  very  charitable,  devoting  their 
time  and  means  to  relieving  the  sick  and  indigent. 
They  organized  and  maintained  for  several  years  an 
institution,  and  which,  for  aught  I  know  to  the  con 
trary,  may  still  be  in  existence,  devoted  to  the  special 
purpose  of  relieving  sick  and  destitute  strangers  in 
Charleston;  the  members  of  which,  in  the  language 
of  a  Charleston  writer,  ''visited  and  nursed  the  sick, 
clothed  the  naked  and  buried  the  dead." 

The  Jewish  community  of  Newport  received  a  valu 
able  acquisition  in  the  person  of  Aaron  Lopez,  who 
settled  there  about  the  year  1750.  Possessing,  a  fine, 
safe  and  commodious  harbor,  which  canbe  entered  at 
all  times  without  a  pilot,  and  of  sufficient  depth  for 
the  largest  vessels,  Newport  had  great  commercial 

appeared  in  Vol.  I.  and  II,  of  The  Occident,  and  to  which  Judge 
Daly  refers,  the  names  of  the  earliest  Jewish  settlers  are  given  as 
follows :  Moses  Cohen,  Isaac  De  Costa,  Joseph  Tobias,  Michael 
Tobias,  Moses  Pimenta,  David  de  Olivera,  Abraham  De  Costa, 
Mordecai  Sheftail,  Levy  Sheftail,  Michael  Lazarus  and  Abraham 
Nunez  Cardoza.— EDITOR. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH   AMERICA  77 

advantages,  and  especially  at  that  period,  from  its 
proximity  to  the  New  England  Colonies,  then  the 
most  thickly  settled  and  industrious  and  active  portion 
of  North  America.  The  advantages  of  this  important 
seaport  were  quickly  comprehended  by  this  sagacious 
merchant,  and  to  him  in  a  larger  degree  than  to  any 
one  else  was  due  the  rapid  commercial  development 
that  followed,  and  which  made  Newport  for  a  quarter 
of  a  century  afterwards  the  formidable  commercial 
rival  of  New  York.  (83)  He  was  the  means  of 
inducing  more  than  forty  Jewish  families  to  settle 
there,  the  heads  of  many  of  which  were  men  of 
wealth,  mercantile  sagacity,  high  intelligence  and ' 
enterprise.  In  fourteen  years  after  Mr.  lyopez  settled 
there,  Newport  had  150  vessels  engaged  in  trade  with 
the  West  Indies  alone,  carrying  on  in  addition  an 
extensive  whaling  business,  a  branch  to  which  its 
merchants  and  navigators  had  then  been  devoted  for 
more  than  a  century.  Its  West  India  trade  was  especi 
ally  lucrative.  Its  vessels  were  freighted  in  the  West 
Indies  with  molasses,  which  was  brought  to  Newport, 
and  then  manufactured  into  rum  for  exportation  to 
the  coast  of  Africa,  the  vessels  returning  from  Africa 

83.  It  is  with  pleasure  that  I  call  attention  in  this  connection  to 
some  remarks  by  the  late  George  William  Curtis,  contained  in  an 
article  by  him  on  "Newport  Historical  and  Social''  (Harpers 
Monthly  Vol.  IX.  p.  289.)  The  remark  derives  much  of  its  force 
froin  the  fact  that  Rhode  Island  was-  Curtis'  native  State  whose 
glories  he  loved  to  dwell  on,  and  that  the  story  of  Newport  was  to 
him  "so  sweet  in  the  telling,  that,  like  Scheherezade,  beguiling  the 
night,  the  chronicler  would  willingly  while  away  the  summer  with 
his  tale,1'  to  quote  his  own  lines.  In  the  article  in  question,  he  as 
signs  three  causes  lor  the  ante-revolutionary  prosperity  of  New 
port,  the  last  ot  which  was  "the  spirit  of  entire  religious  toler- 
ation,which  gives  to  the  settlement  ot  the  whole  State, first  at  Provi 
dence  and  then  at  Newport  an  historical  eminence  no  less  enviable 
than  singular.  Quakers  and  Jews  were  among  the  earliest  settlers 
and  the  most  distinguished  and  successful  of  its  citizens."—  ED. 


j8  JEWS    IN   NORTH    AMERICA 

with  slaves  for  the  West  India  market.  Mr.  Lopez* 
,atthe  breaking  out  of  the  American  Revolution,  was 
himself  the  owner  of  thirty  vessels  engaged  in  Euro 
pean  and  West  India  trade  and  the  whale  fisheries, 
and  was  then  and  for  some  years  previously,  looked 
upon  as  the  most  eminent  and  successful  merchant  in 
New  England.  His  father-in-law,  Jacob  Rodriguez- 
Rivera,  also  a  native  of  Portugal,  came  to  Newport 
.a  few  years  before,  about  1745,  and  was  the  first 
merchant  there  of  the  Jewish  persuasion  of  any  dis 
tinction  ;  for  the  Jews  who  settled  in  Newport  pre 
viously  were  not  persons  of  any  especial  prominence. 


Mr.  Rivera  was  the  first  person  who  introduced  the 
manufacture  of  spermaceti  in  America,  having 
brought  the  art  with  him  from  Portugal.  Acquainted 
with  the  mode  of  making  this  valuable  commodity,he 
was  naturally  attached  to  Newport,  the  inhabitants 
of  which  were  then  actively  engaged  in  the  whale 
fishery,  and  by  the  introduction  of  the  manufacture 
.of  this  article  he  justly  contributed  to  the  prosperity 
-of  the  place.  He  and  his  son-in-law,  Mr.  Lopez, 


84.  Peterson's  History  of  Rhode  Island,  (pp.  180-181:)  I  have 
received  through  Charles  R.  Russell,  Esq.,  of  Ne«r  York,  the 
following  memorandum  of  the  names  of  Jews  known  to  have  been 
in  Newport  in  the  sevententh  century,  made  by  N.  H.  Goufd,  Esq., 
of  Newport,  a  gentleman  the  best  informed  there  on  the  subject. 
Memo.:  Samuel  Isaac  and  Judah  Moses,  soap  boilers;  Moses  and 
Jacob  James,  -workers  in  brass;  Isaac  Benjamin,  Abraham  Ben 
jamin,  Isaac  Moses  and  Jacob  Frannc,  or  Franci,  merchants  and 
traders,  how  long  they  remained  here  I  have  no  information,  JacoD 
and  Joseph  Judah ;  Benjamin  and  Moses  Myers,  Naphtali  Myers 
Isaac  and  Nathan  Lyon,  David  Salomon,  Abraham  Jacobs, 
Solomon  Mendez,  Solomon  Cohen,  Nathan  Cohen,  Aaron  Cohen 
Isaac  Cohen,  and  among  the  earliest  Lodge  of  Freemasons  were 
the  following  Israelites  :  Isaac  Isaacs,  money  broker,  Solomon 
Aaron  Myers,  Joseph  Jacobs,  Abraham  Mendez,  Eleazar  Eleazar, 
.Moses  Isaacs,  and  Isaac  Eleazar. 


irr7ER:i 

oar 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  79 

united  in  introducing  this  important  branch  of 
industry,  and  so  successfully,  that  there  were  at  one 
time  no  less  than  seventeen  manufacturers  of  oil  and 
candles;  and  Newport  enjoyed  the  monopoly  of  this 
traffic  down  to  the  time  of  the  breaking  out  of  the 
American  Revolution.  Mr.  Rivera  resided  at  New 
port  for  forty-four  years.  He  died  there  in  1789,  at 
an  advanced  age,  and  throughout  his  long  and  use 
ful  career,  was  distinguished  for  his  probity  and  active 
benevolence.  In  his  first  attempt  to  establish  himself 
there  in  business,  he  met  with  so  many  losses  that 
he  was  obliged  to  compromise  with  his  creditors,  and 
obtain  from  them  a  release  from  his  debts.  In  a  very 
few  years,  having  retrieved  his  affairs,  he  invited  all 
his  former  creditors  to  dine  with  him,  when  each 
creditor  found  under  his  plate  an  order  for  the  pay 
ment  of  the  amount  that  had  been  released,  together 
with  interest.  In  addition  to  his  integrity,  he  is  said 
to  have  been  most  exemplary  in  the  observance  of  all 
the  rites,  duties  and  obligations  of  his  religion. 

In  1763,  there  were  between  sixty  and  seventy 
Jewish  families  in  Newport,  the  greater  portion  of 
whom  came  from  Spain  and  Portugal,  between  the 
years  1750  and  1760.  The  terrible  earthquake  in 
Lisbon  in  1755,  which  swallowed  up  50,000  of  the 
inhabitants  in  the  short  space  of  eight  minutes,  and 
converted  that  beautiful  city  into  a  mass  of  ruins, 
increased  the  Jewish  emigration  from  Portugal  to  New 
port,  and  what  is  now  in  Newport  the  north  side  of 
the  Mall,  was  then  covered  with  Jewish  residences. 
They  were,  in  fact,  the  chief  persons  of  the  place,  for, 
besides  L,opez  and  Rivera,  there  were  many  other 
Jewish  merchants  there,  men  of  wealth,  cultivation, 
intelligence  and  enterprise,  and  the  commercial  pros 
perity  which  they  so  materially  contributed  to  bring 
about,  was  due  not  only  to  their  remarkable  capacity 
and  industry,  but  to  the  confidence  inspired  by  their 


80  JEWS   IN   NORTH   AMERICA 

scrupulous  integrity  and  delicate  sense  of  mercantile 
honor.  It  was  this  latter  quality  that  gave  them 
great  power  and  influence  in  their  widespread  opera 
tions  in  different  quarters  of  the  globe,  and  enabled 
them  to  draw  so  many  sources  of  wealth  to  the  little 
seaport  town  which  they  had  settled  as  their  home 
and  place  of  business.  (85) 


85.  In  Vol.  IV,  p.  456  of  the  Magazine  of  American  History, 
is  found  a  paragraph  taken  from  the  Newport  Mercury,  as  follows: 
"In  1658,  fifteen  Hebrew  families  from  Holland  arrived  at  New 
port,  R.  I.,  and  brought  with  them  the  first  thtee  degrees  of 
Masonry."  The  same  statement,  in  identically  the  same  language 
is  contained  in  Dr.  Fischel's  "Chronological  Notes  on  the  History 
of  the  Jews  in  America,"  in  the  Historical  Magazine,  referred 
to  in  a  former  note. 

But  the  most  detailed  account  of  the  history  of  the  Jews  of 
Newport  known  to  me  is  to  be  found  in  an  interesting  article  by 
H.  T.  Tuckerman  on  "  Graves  at  Newport "  (Harper's  Monthly, 
Vol.  39,  p.  372).  I  glean  the  following  from  it :  "  On  the  24th  of 
August,  1694,  a  ship  arrived  at  Newport,  R.  I.,  then  the  principal 
port  of  entry,  from  one  of  the  West  India  Islands,  with  a  number 
of  Jewish  families  on  board,  of  wealth  and  respectability,  who 
settled  there.  In  a  few  years  a  congregation  of  sixty  worshiped 
in  the  synagogue,  which  at  length  boasted  1,175  worshipers. 
Gradually  migrating  to  new  States,  not  a  resident  Jew  is  now 
(1869)  found  in  Newport — only  their  sepulchres  remain." 

"After  the  terrible  earthquake  at  Lisbon,  a  company  of  Jews  em 
barked  thence  for  America  ;  their  precise  destination  was  not  set 
tled,  and  the  captain  of  the  vessel  on  board  of  which  they  were 
passengers  intended  to  land  them  on  the  Virginia  coast.  Adverse 
and  violent  winds  led  him  to  seek  refuge  in  Narragansett  Bay. 
Allured  by  the  tolerant  laws  and  spirit  of  Newport,  the  Israelite 
emigrants  determined  to  remain  there.  Other  Jewish  emigrants 
from  the  West  Indies  and  elsewhere  followed  their  Portuguese 
brethren  to  Newport  ;  and  in  1763,  when  sixty  families  had  settled 
there,  the  synagogue  was  erected." 

It  appears  that  in  1750  Moses  Lopez  was  excused  at  his  own  re 
quest  from  all  civil  duties  on  account  of  his  gratuitous  services  to 
the  Government  in  translating  Spanish  documents.  We  also  read 
that  "  in  the  early  days  of  the  Lopez  establishment,  his  employees 
went  out  in  boats  and  captured  whales  off  the  coast.  Moses  Lopez 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 


8 1 


Before  the  arrival  of  these  enterprising  merchants 
and  their  families,  the  religious  exercises  of  the  Jew 
ish  residents  -their  number  being  small— were  con. 
ducted  in  private  houses  (86).  But  their  number  had 
now  become  large,  and  in  1762  the  erection  of  a  syna 
gogue  was  begun,  which  was  completed  and  dedicated 
in  the  following  year,  with  great  pomp  and  ceremony. 
Two  years  previously,  in  1760,  a  learned  young  man 
from  Jamaica,  in  the  West  Indies,  came  here,  the  Rev. 
Isaac  Touro,  who  was  chosen  by  the  congregation  as 
its  rabbi,  and  under  his  teaching  the  synagogue  con 
tinued  to  be  crowded  with  worshipers  until  the  break 
ing  out  of  the  American  Revolntion(87).  It  has  already 
been  stated  that  a  burial  ground  was  obtained  in  1677. 
In  that  year  a  plot  of  land  was  conveyed  for  that  pur- 


at  one  time  owned  twenty-seven  square-rigged  vessels,  and  his 
correspondence  indicates  large  and  honorable  commercial  rela 
tions.  Dr.  Stiles  loved  to  stroll  along  the  Parade,  discussing  some 
point  of  Oriental  wisdom  with  the  learned  Rabbi  Isaac  Carigal." 
As  for  the  spermaceti  oil  and  candle  factory  referred  to  in  the 
text,  our  author  states  that  "  it  was  the  first  experiment  of  the 
kind  in  the  colonies  and  was  long  a  monopoly  here,  and  no  incon 
siderable  source  of  wealth.  From  Newport  the  enterprise  was 
carried  to  New  Bedford.  "  The  war  of  the  Revolution  dispersed 
the  Jewish  merchants.  Their  ships  were  nearly  all  taken  by  the 
enemy.'' 

Longfellow's  beautiful  poem,  "The  Jewish  Cemetery  at  New 
port,1'  will  be  read  with  renewed  interest  in  the  light  of  these 
facts. — EDITOR. 

86.  Peterson,  p.  181. 

87.  Rabbi  Touro  married  a  sister  of  Moses   Hays,  one  of  the 
Jewish  merchants,  and   afterwards   a   very   eminent   merchant  in 
Boston.     The  Rabbi  was  not  only  held  in  high   regard  by  his  own 
congregation,  but  was  esteemed   by  his   professional    brethren   of 
all  denominations.     With  several  he  was  upon  terms  of  close  in 
timacy,  among  whom  may  be  named  the  celebrated  Dr.  Stiles,  the 
President  of  Yale  College,  to  whom  he  imparted    a   knowledge     o* 
the  Hebrew  tongue. 


8»  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

pose  to  Mordecai  Campannal  and  Moses  Packeckoe, 
which  still  exists,  and  as  it  is  now  enclosed,  with  its 
handsome  wall  and  its  Egyptian  architectural  gate 
way,  is  a  conspicuous  feature  in  Newport. 

An  event  occurred  in  the  year  of  the  erection  of  the 
synagogue,  1762,  which  shows  how  readily  prosperous 
communities  may  forget  the  liberal  principles  upon 
which  they  were  founded,  when  the  accumulation  of 
wealth  creates  the  desire  to  become  aristrocatic  and 
exclusive.  Both  Rhode  Island  and  Maryland  started 
with  the  broadest  recognition  of  the  rights  of  con 
science  as  the  prerogative  and  privilege  of  all  who 
s,hould  settle  there;  and  yet,  in  little  more  than  a 
century,  the  one  construed  these  rights  as  applying 
only  to  Christians,  and  the  other  as  extending  only  to 
Christians  of  a  particular  denomination.  When  the 
Jews  in  1684  applied  to  the  Assembly  in  Rhode  Island, 
they  received  the  public  assurance  of  that  body,  that 
they  might  expect  as  good  protection  in  that  colony 
as  any  other  resident  foreigners,  (88)  which  was  sub 
stantially  declaring  that  no  distinction  would  be  made 
upon  the  ground  of  religion.  In  1762,  Aaron  Lopez 
and  Isaac  Eleazar,  being  foreigners, applied  for  natur 
alization,  which  was  granted,  but  afterwards  set  aside 
by  a  decree  of  the  Superior  Court  as  a  direct  violation 
of  the  Act  of  Parliament  (13  of  George  II.,)  they  being 
Jews.  The  New  England  colonies  at  that  time, 

88.     Arnold's  History  of  Rhode  Island,  p.  478. 

Editor's  note:  'Voted,  in  answer  to  the  petition  of  Simon  Medus 
David  Brown  and  associates,  being  Jews,  presented  to  this  assem 
bly,  bearing  date  June  the  24th,  1684,  we  declare,  that  they  may 
expect  as  good  protection  here,  as  any  stranger,  being  not  of  our 
nation,  residing  amongst  us  in  this  his  Majesty's  Colony  ought  to 
have,  being  obedient  to  his  Majesty's  laws."  Proceedings  of  the 
General  Assembly  for  the  Colony  of  Rhode  Island  and  Providence 
Plantations,  June  24th, 1682 — Bartlett's  Colonial  Records  of  Rhode 
Island,  III.  p.  160. 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  83 

1762,  and  during  the  fourteen  years  that  intervened 
before  the  Declaration  of  Independence,  did  not 
trouble  themselves  much  about  the  Acts  of  Parlia 
ment  where  they  conflicted  with  their  interests,  or 
what  they  considered  their  rights,  and  even  in  this 
case  the  courts  were  not  willing  to  put  their  decision 
upon  the  Act  of  Parliament  alone,  but  proceeded  to 
declare  that,  by  the  charter  of  Rhode  Island,  the  free 
and  quiet  enjoyment  of  the  Christian  religion  and  the 
desire  of  propagating  it  were  the  principal  views  with 
which  the  colony  was  settled.  This  Arnold,  the  his" 
torian  of  Rhode  Island,  says  was  untrue  (89),  and  the 
Court  if  they  knew  anything  of  the  early  history, 
knew  it  to  be  so.  Probably  conscious  that  this  would 
not  bear  examination,  they  added  another  ground  in 
voking  the  authority  of  the  Act  of  Parliament,  but 
construing  it  in  a  colonial  sense,  which  was  this  : 
They  declared  that  the  Naturalization  Act  was  de 
signed  for  increasing  the  number  of  inhabitants,  but 
as  the  colony  was  already  full,  it  could  not  be  the 
intention  of  the  Act  that  any  more  should  be  natural 
ized,  and  consequently  the  naturalization  of  Messrs. 
Lopez  and  Eleazar  was  set  aside.  The  two  applicants 
had  been  residents  of  Rhode  Island  for  many  years 
before  this,  and  admitting  them  to  the  privileges  of 
freemen  was  not  increasing  then  umber  of  inhabitants, 
but  the  fact  was  that  Rhode  Island  then,  and  for  many 
years  after  it  was  an  independent  State,  was  a  close 
corporation  in  which  the  proportion  of  freemen  was 
not  more  than  •  one  in  ten;  a  spirit  of  exclusiveness 
which  was  maintained  in  that  State  until  it  led  in 
1842,  to  what  was  known  as  Dorr's  Rebellion,  an  act 
for  which  he  was  convicted  of  high  treason,  but  which 
ultimately  brought  about  the  adoption  of  a  more 
liberal  constitution. 

89.  Arnold  p.   496- 


84  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

But  the  exclusion  of  the  Jews  from  political  privi 
leges  was  not  left  to  depend  upon  this  judicial  deci 
sion,  and  an  act  was  passed  in  1763  providing  that  no 
person  who  did  not  profess  the  Christian  religion  could 
be  admitted  free  of  the  colony. 

This  was  repudiating  the  act  of  1652,  that  all  men 
of  whatever  nation  that  were  received  as  inhabitants 
of  any  of  the  towns,  should  have  the  same  privileges 
as  Englishmen,  and  the  assurance  given  to  the  Jews 
particularly  in  1684.  Arnold  says  (90)  that  though 
the  charter  granted  religious  freedom,  it  did  not  con 
fer  political  rights  ;  but  religious  freedom  can  scarcely 
be  said  to  exist  when  a  man's  religious  belief  is  the 
ground  upon  which  he  is  deprived  of  political  rights. 
This  illiberal  course  on  the  part  of  the  governing 
classes  in  Rhode  Island  in  no  way  affected  the  position 
of  the  Jews  in  Newport,  or  diminished  the  respect  in 
which  they  were  held  in  that  town.  They  probably 
attached  little  value  to  the  political  privileges  sojeal 
ously  withheld,  when  they  were  not  interfered  with  in 
the  prosecution  of  their  commercial  pursuits,  or  dis 
turbed  in  the  practice  of  their  religion,  and,  having 
the  support  and  co-operation  of  their  fellow-townsmen 
in  their  extensive  mercantile  operations,  they  not  only 
increased  in  wealth  themselves,  but  added  to  the 
wealth  and  prosperity  of  the  community  of  which  they 
were  such  valuable  members. 

The  breaking  out  of  the  American  Revolution  put 
an  end  to  the  commercial  prosperity  of  Newport.  Its 
situation  upon  the  ocean,  which  had  made  it  before 
so  favorable  for  commerce,  had  now  an  opposite  effect, 
and  left  it  more  exposed  to  attacks  from  the  enemy 
than  any  other  place  of  equal  importance  in  North 
America.  Not  only  was  its  situation  one  of  the  most 


90.     I  Arnold,  496. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  85 

exposed,  but  its  inhabitants  had  especially  provoked 
the  hostility  of  the  mother  country,  as  it  was  one  of 
the  first  places  to  manifest  a  spirit  of  resistance  to  the 
arbitrary  acts  of  the  British  government  by  burning 
an  armed  vessel  of  war  that  came  to  exact  an  odious 
tax.  In  the  then  infuriated  state  of  the  British  mind 
it  could  expect  no  mercy,  and  it  received  none.  8,000 
British  and  Hessian  troops  occupied  it,  who  destroyed 
480  houses,  burned  the  shipping,  and  during  an 
occupation  of  three  years  cut  down  the  groves  and 
orchards,  pillaged  the  library,  then  the  finest  in  Amer 
ica,  and  carried  off  the  town  records.  From  this  blow 
its  commercial  interests  never  recovered,  and  as  the 
property  and  wealth  of  the  Jewish  residents  was  in 
vested  in,  and  formed  part  of  the  commercial  capital 
of  the  place,  the  blow  fell  upon  them  with  crushing 
effect.  Aaron  Lopez  was  a  heavy  sufferer,  not  only 
from  what  took  place  at  Newport,  but  by  the  seizure 
of  his  vessels  upon  distant  voyages,  and  by  the  dete 
rioration  of  those  that  remained  to  him,  by  their  being 
laid  up  for  safety  during  the  long  continuance  of  the 
war. 

The  Jewish  congregation  being  dispersed,  the 
synagogue  was  closed,  and  Rabbi  Touro  went  with 
his  family  to  Jamaica,  in  the  West  Indies,  where  he 
died  on  the  8th  of  December,  1782,  at  the  age  of 
forty-six  >ears.  He  left  two  sons,  both  of  whom 
afterwards  became  very  eminent  merchants,  Abra 
ham  D.  Touro,  who  settled  in  Boston,  where  he  died 
in  1822,  leaving  a  very  large  estate  ;  and  Jacob  Touro, 
who  went  to  Louisiana  after  its  session  to  the  United 
States,  and  became  one  of  the  wealthiest  merchants 
of  New  Orleans. 

When  the  struggle  drew  to  a  close,  most  of  the 
Jewish  residents  had  left  Newport.  Impoverished 
by  the  loss  of  their  property,  they  sought  other  place§ 


86  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

in  which  to  retrieve  their  shattered  fortunes,  and  never 
returned.  Aaron  Lopez  had  retired  with  his  family 
to  Leicester,  Mass.,  when  the  British  army  took  pos 
session  of  Newport,  and  remained  there  until  1782- 
The  struggle  was  now  practically  over  and  he  set  out, 
intending  to  return  and  resume  his  business  opera 
tions  iu  Newport,  but  was  destined  never  to  see  that 
town  again.  Whilst  upon  this  journey  with  his 
family,  on  the  28th  of  May,  1782,  he  drove  his  carriage 
to  the  side  of  a  pond  to  water  his  horses,  resting  upon 
what  proved  to  be  a  quicksand,  which  giving  way, 
horse,  vehicle  and  inmate  suddenlv  sunk  to  such  a 
depth,  as  to  render  his  rescue  impossible.  His  body 
was  afterwards  recovered  and  brought  to  Newport, 
where  it  was  interred  in  the  Jewish  cemetery,  with 
every  mark  of  public  respect.  Charles  H.  Russell 
Esq.,  to  whom  I  am  indebted  for  many  particulars  of 
the  Jews  of  Newport,  in  detailing  the  accident  by 
which  this  excellent  man  lost  his  life,  writes  :  "Thus 
was  removed  in  the  meridian  of  life  one  of  the  most 
eminent  and  useful  merchants  that  Newport  ever 
had.  His  death,  at  the  period  it  took  place,  may  be 
considered  as  one  of  the  greatest  misfortunes  that  ever 
befel  the  town.  Cut  off  as  he  was,  prep  :ring  to  renew 
his  various  enterprises,  there  can  be  no  doubt  from 
his  extensive  business  relations,  that  had  he  lived,  he 
would  speedily  have  retrieved  his  losses  and  greatly 
contributed  to  revive  the  business  and  trade  of  the 
place.  He  was  a  man  of  eminent  probity  and  benevo 
lence.  His  bounties  were  widely  diffused.  They 
were  not  confined  to  creed  or  sect,  and  the  people  of 
Newport  for  more  than  half  a  century  continued  to 
venerate  his  memory."  (91) 

91.  Considerable  additional  details  about  the  Jews  of  Newport 
are  to  be  found  in  '  History  of  the  Jews  of  Boston  and  New  Eng 
land  "  edited  by  A.  G.  Daniels,  Boston,  1892.  The  author  of  the  arti- 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  87 

After  the  Revolution,  a  few  families  remained,  ahd 
the  services  at  the  synagogue  were  continued  until 
about  the  year  1790.  The  superior  advantages  of 
New  York  as  the  commercial  centre  and  chief  seaport 
of  the  country,  became  apparent  upon  the  organiza 
tion  of  the  general  government  after  the  adoption  of 
the  Constitution  of  the  United  States,  and  as  New 
York  rose  in  commercial  rank  and  importance,  New 
port  steadily  declined. 

To  the  Jewish  mind  there  is  little  or  no  attraction 
in  a  place,  the  trade  of  which  is  passing  away,  for 
the  Jews  have  been  for  centuries  a  trading  ?nd  com 
mercial  people.  They  are  not  without  local  attach 
ment  for  the  particular  spot  in  which  they  have  set 
tled,  and  those  whoare  past  middle  age  may  linger  in 
the  decline  of  its  prosperity, but  the  young  depart.  As 
a  people,  they  have  dwelt  almost  exclusively  in  towns 
or  larger  cities  for  the  reason  that,  except  for  a  period 
comparatively  recent,  scarcely  any  other  pursuits  were 
opened  to  them,  except  those  which  were  directly  con 
nected  with  trade  or  commerce.  In  most  European 
countries  in  which  they  have  dwelt,  they  have  gener 
ally  been  denied  the  privilege  of  owning  land,  or,  if 
permitted  to  hold  it,  it  has  been  subject  to  such  capri 
cious  and  onerous  exactions,  as  to  prevent  them  from 
becoming  agriculturists.  They  were  equally  shti 
out  from  mechanical  pursuits.  The  mechanical  arts 
were  in  Europe  for  centuries  carried  on  under  the 
supervision  and  control  of  guilds  or  corporations,  who 
permitted  none  but  those  who  were  allowed  to  enter 
the  organization  to  acquire  a  knowledge  of  or  to  prac 
tice  them, and  from  their  bodies  Jews  were  almost  tinJ- 

cle  has,  however,  failed  to  give  the  authority  for  his  statements,  and 
this  fact,  which  is  equally  true  of  Markens'  "Hebrews  "in  America,'' 
renders  the  work  unsatisfactory  and  unreliable,  for  incorrect 
statements  are  joined  with  correct  ones.— EDITOR, 


88  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

formly  excluded.  Even  after  the  system  of  guilds 
was  abandoned,  Jews  were  not  allowed  even  in  so  lib 
eral  a  country  as  Holland,  to  engage  in  mechanical 
employments.  By  the  municipal  regulations  of  towns, 
they  were  usually  excluded  alike  from  being  mechan 
ics,  or  from  keeping  shops  for  the  sale  of  goods  by  re 
tail.  So  stringent  and  uniform  were  these  regulations, 
that  they  were  of  necessity  confined  to  migratory 
trading,  which  among  the  poorer  class  would  be  ped 
dling  or  the  loaning  and  exchange  of  money,  and 
the  larger  operations  of  commerce.  To  all  this  should 
be  added  that  iti  many  of  these  countries,  and  for 
centuries,  they  were  subject  at  any  time  to  be  stripped 
of  their  wealth,  or,  as  not  unfrequently  happened,  to 
be  suddenly  expelled  from  the  territory  of  the  king, 
or  government,  in  a  body  with  the  power  of  taking 
nothing  with  them  but  their  movables.  Under  such 
circumstances,  there  was  little  to  attach  them  to  the 
particular  country  where  they  were  born  or  dwelt,  or 
to  create  towards  it,  either  in  their  own  estimation  or 
in  that  of  others,  what  isexpressed  by  the  word  nation 
ality.  There  have  been  exceptional  instances  in 
European  history,  such  as  the  period  of  the  German 
ic  Empire,  under  Charlemagne;  thedominion  of  Spain 
by  the  Moors;  Italy  at  intervals,  and  for  a  considerable 
period  Poland  and  Holland;  but  in  most  countries  they 
were  subject  to  the  disabilities  above  stated. 

This  policy,  which  was  designed  for  their  conver 
sion  or  extirpation,  produced  an  effect  the  very  oppo 
site  of  what  was  intended.  It  made  them  more  cohe 
sive  and  cosmopolitan,  co-operating,  acting  and  sym 
pathizing  with  each  other,  however  widely  separated 
or  extensively  distributed,  throughout  the  globe. 

Shutting  them  out  from  all  other  vocations  and  con 
fining  them  to  trade  and  commerce,  was  to  turn  their 
capacity  and  energies  to  pursuits  for  which,  as  an 
acute,  thrifty  and  intellectual  people  they  proved  to 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  89 

be  particularly  adapted.  From  their  cosmopolitan 
character  they  obtained  a  clearer  insight  and  more 
enlarged  views  of  what  was  requisite  to  promote  trade 
in  the  intercourse  between  different  countries,  and  to 
their  comprehensiveness,  quickness  and  sagacity  is 
due  in  a  large  degree  the  discovery  of  the  methods  by 
which  trade  is  facilitated  and  commercial  transactions 
carried  on  at  the  present  day. 

The  devotion  of  a  whole  race,  widely  distributed  in 
different  countries,  to  trade  and  commerce,  especially 
when  modern  commerce  was  in  its  infancy,  brought 
about  results  alike  favorable  to  them  and  to  the  world. 
It  gave  them  influence  and  power,  and  in  the  changes 
which  commerce  has  effected — the  intercourse  it  has 
promoted,  the  prejudice  it  has  swept  away  and  the 
advance  in  civilization  chat  has  followed  it— they 
have  played  a  more  important  part  than  has  ever  been 
adequately  acknowledged. 

The  younger  branches  of  the  few  families  that  re 
mained  in  Newport,  departed  for  other  places,  and 
settled  chiefly  in  New  York,  Philadelphia,  Charleston 
and  Savannah.  As  no  addition  was  made  to  the  small 
Jewish  population  it  was  gradually  diminished  by 
death,  until  at  last  Moses  Lopez,  the  nephew  of  Aaron, 
was  the  sole  remaining  Jew  in  Newport.  Even  he 
left  and  closed  his  days  in  New  York,  from  whence 
his  body  was  brought  and  interred  in  the  Jewish  cem 
etery,  where  the  remains  ol  his  relations  reposed. 

He  is  said  to  have  been  a  man  of  remarkable  cap 
acity,  distinguished  for  his  acquirements  as  a  mathe 
matician,  his  mechanical  skill  and  his  conversational 
powers.  As  a  man  of  business  he  was  noted  for  his 
uprightness,  and  is  said  to  have  been  particularly 
earnest  in  his  religious  belief.  His  kinsman,  Aaron 
Lopez,  for  many  years  the  head  and  confidential  clerk 
of  the  largest  mercantile  house  in  Newport,  was 
affectionately  regarded  by  his  fellow  townsmen  of 


90  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

all  denominations  for  his  scrupulous  integrity  and 
interesting  personal  character.  To  these  two  excel 
lent  men  should  be  added  another  of  their  represent 
ative  survivors,  a  man  familiarly  known  to  all  in 
Newport  and  gieatly  respected  :  Moses  Seixas,  the 
cashier  of  the  Bank  of  Rhode  Island. 

The  synagogue,  after  being  closed  for  sixty  years, 
was  opened  for  public  worship  upon  a  single  occasion 
in  1850,  by  a  rabbi  from  New  York.  Abraham  D. 
Touro,  who,  it  will  be  remembered  died  in  Boston  in 
1822,  bequeathed  by  his  will  the  sum  of  $10,000,  as 
a  fund  for  the  perpetual  reparation  and  maintaining 
of  the  synagogue,  and  $5,000  for  keeping  the  street 
in  front  of  it  and  of  the  burial  ground,  now  known  as 
Touro  Street,  in  repair.  The  remaining  son  of  the 
rabbi,  Judah  Touro,  of  New  Orleans,  in  1843,  at  an 
expense  of  $12,000,  had  the  crumbling  brick  wall  of 
the  burial  ground  replaced  by  a  substantial  stone 
structure,  the  massive  and  imposing  granite  gateway 
of  which,  in  the  Egyptian  style  of  architecture,  is  a 
conspicuous  feature  of  Newport.  It  was  but  one  of 
the  many  benefactions  of  this  eminent  philanthropist 
who,  having  amassed  a  fortune  during  a  long  life  of 
sagacious  enterprise  as  a  merchant,  bestowed  the 
greater  part  of  it  upon  public  institutions  and  char 
ities. 

It  has  been  mentioned  that  his  uncle,  Moses  Hays, 
removed  to  Boston  after  the  breaking  out  of  the 
Revolution,  and  under  his  supervision  Touro's  life 
was  passed  at  that  place  until  his  twenty-third  year, 
when  he  went  upon  a  voyage  to  the  Mediterranean,  as 
a  supercargo  of  one  of  his  uncle's  ships.  During  the 
voyage  the  vessel  was  attacked  by  a  French  privateer, 
which  resulted  in  a  desperate  conflict,  and,  what 
rarely  happens  in  such  encounters,  Touro's  ship 
came  off  victorious.  In  1802,  he  went  to  New  Orleans, 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  91 

where   he  passed  the  remainder   of  his  life  in   alon  g 
and  highly  honorable  mercantile   career.     He  fought 
in  defense  of  New  Orleans,  under  General  Jackson,  in 
I8i5,  receiving  a  wound  from  a  cannon  ball,  from  the 
effects  of  which  he  never  entirely  recovered.  Through 
out  his  life,  he  was  noted  for  his  liberality  and  benev 
olence,  contributing   largely    to   charities,  public  in 
stitutions,    and    various     enterprises,    among  which 
should  be  mentioned  the  donation  of  a   very  valuable 
lot  of  ground  in  New    Orleans,    for  the  erection    of  a 
Christian    Church.       He    died   there    in  1854,  at  the 
advanced  age  of  79  years.     Among  other  bequests  he 
left  $80,000   to  found  an  almshouse  in  New  Orleans  ; 
$65,000  to  the  Hebrew  congregations  in  that  city;  and 
smaller   bequests   to   New    York,    Boston,    Newport, 
New   Haven,  Hartford,    Charleston    and    Savannah  : 
$10,000  to    the  Society  for  the  Relief  of  the  Indigent 
Jews  in  Palestine;  $50,000  for  ameliorating  the  condi 
tion    of  the  Jews    in  the  Holy    Land;  $10,000   to   the 
Jewish  Hospital  in  New  York;  $10,000  to  the  Massa- 
chnsets    Female    Hospital  ;   and    smaller   bequests  to 
the  Female  Asylum  and  the  Boy's  Asylum  in  Boston. 
Nor   was  his   native    city  forgotten.     Among   other 
benefactions    to  Newport  he  left  $10,000  for    the  pur 
chase  of  the  antiquarian  relic  there  known  as  the  "Old 
Mill."  supposed  at  one  time  to   have  been  erected  by 
the  Norsemen,  and  the  ground  surrounding  it,  which > 
as  now    devoted  to  the  public    use,  has    been  appro 
priately   named   "  Touro   Square.''       His   body    was 
removed  from  New   Orleans  to  Newport,  and  rests  in 
the  cemetery  there  with  the  remains  of  his  father  and 
kindred.   At  the  period  of  his  death  he  had  no  known 
relations.     His  father  came  from  Holland,  and  as  the 
name  would  indicate,    was  probably  a   descendant  of 
the   Jews    from    Portugal,    who   sought  and  found  a 
refuge  in  that  tolerant  land. 


92  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

A  large  part  of  the  fund  left  by  these  two  brothers 
was  designed  not  o^y  for  keeping  the  synagogue  in 
continued  repair,  but  a  portion  of  it  was  specially 
intended  for  theannua!  support  of  a  rabbi  or  minister. 
But  there  is  no  rabbi  as  there  are  no  worshipers,  and 
the  interest  upon  the  fund  is  year  by  year  added  to 
the  principal.  Newport  from  its  salubrity,  the  beauty 
of  its  scenery,  and  the  advantages  it  has  for  sea-bath 
ing,  became  as  its  commerce  declined,  a  place  of 
resort  for  persons  from  all  parts  of  the  United  States, 
during  the  heated  months  of  the  American  summer, 
and  is  now,  with  its  spacious  hotels  and  streets  of 
suburban  villas,  one  of  the  most  attractive  and  pro 
minent  watering  places  in  America.  It  is  sought 
alike  by  the  pleasure-seekers,  the  votary  of  fashion, 
and  those  in  pursuit  of  health ;  and  among  the  mingled 
crowds  that  gather  there  in  summer,  there  are  doubt 
less  Israelites.  No  one,  however,  known  to  be  of  the 
Hebrew  persuasion,  is  found  among  the  resident 
inhabitants;  but  the  synagogue  and  cemetery  remain, 
and  through  the  fund  erected  for  that  purpose,  will 
continue  as  permanent  memorials  of  the  Jews  of 
Newport. 

In  1819,  a  Mr.  W.  D.  Robinson  printed  and  circu 
lated  a  pamphlet  in  London,  entitled  "Memoir,  ad 
dressed  to  Persons  of  the  Jewish  Religion  in  Europe, 
on  the  subject  of  Emigration  and  Settlement  in  the 
United  States  of  North  America."  The  object  of  this 
publication  was  to  induce  the  wealthier  Jews  in 
Europe  to  unite  in  a  fund  for  the  purchase  of  a  large 
tract  of  land  in  the  upper  Mississippi  and  Missouri 
Territory  to  which  the  poorer  classes  of  Jews  through 
out  Europe  might  be  sent  to  found  an  agricultural 
settlement.  The  plan  was  to  offer  to  each  Jewish 
emigrant  a  certain  number  of  acres  upon  a  credit  for 
a  specific  number  of  years  ;  to  convey  the  emigrants 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  93 

free  of  expense  from  Europe  to  New  Orleans  and  then 
by  the  way  of  the  Mississippi  River  to  the  place  of 
settlement,  to  transport  thither  agricultural  imple 
ments  of  every  description,  to  be  sold  to  the  settlers 
on  credit,  and  to  establish  rules  and  regulations  for 
the  general  interest  of  the  settlement  and  the  reim 
bursement  of  the  capital.  The  assurance  is  held  out 
to  the  subscribers  of  the  fund,  that  they  will  not  only 
be  rewarded  by  the  grateful  thanks  of  the  settlers, 
but  that  as  an  investment  it  would  ultimately  prove 
of  greater  advantage  and  magnitude  than  any  other 
mode  by  which  funds  could  then  be  invested  in 
Europe.  The  motive  of  the  writer  purports  to  be  a 
benevolent  one,  and  to  have  been  induced  by  the  op 
pressed  and  wretched  condition  then,  of  the  great  bulk 
of  the  Jews  in  Europe.  I  apprehend,  however,  that 
the  writer,  who  styled  himself  in  his  title  page  "a 
citizen  of  the  United  States,  "  was  what  is  known  in 
this  country  as  a  land  speculator;  for  he  takes  occasion 
to  inform  his  Jewish  readers  that  there  were  then  for 
Private  sale  large  tracts  in  the  two  sections  he  referred 
to,  embracing  several  millions  of  acres  adjacent  to  the 
Mississippi  and  Missouri  Rivers.  The  Jews  in  Europe, 
who  had  accumulated  wealth,  were  not  of  the  class  to 
instruct  upon  the  subject  of  investing  their  capital. 
They  were  then,  and  have  always  been,  far  in  advance 
of  others  in  the  knowledge  of  the  means  by  which 
money  can  be  turned  to  the  best  account.  However 
desirous  tfrey  might  be  to  advance  the  interests  and 
elevate  the  condition  of  their  poor  co-religionists, 
there  was  nothing  in  this  scheme  to  commend  it  to 
them.  It  was  in  fact  totally  impracticable. 

The  Jews  in  Europe  were  not, and  had  not  for  centur 
ies  been,  either  artists  or  agriculturists,  and  to  have 
transported  a  large  number  of  these  people,  wholly 
unacquainted  with  the  mechanical  or  agricultural 


94  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

arts,  to  a  wilderness  in  America,  to  found  a  Jewish 
agricultural  settlement,  would  have  been  a  disastrous 
failure,  like  many  analogous  attempts  in  the  early 
settlement  of  the  United  States.  But  the  interested 
or  enthusiastic  Mr.  Robinson,  at  the  end  of  his  pamph 
let,  held  out  the  anticipation  of  a  very  different  result 
from  the  adoption  of  his  scheme.  He  presented  the 
alluring  picture,  to  use  his  own  language,  "of  Jewish 
agriculture  spreading  through  the  American  forests; 
Jewish  towns  and  villages  adorning  the  banks  of  the 
Mississippi  and  the  Missouri,"  and  that  "the  arts, 
commerce  and  manufactures,  would  advance  with  the 
same  rapidity  in  this  new  settlement,  as  had  been  ex 
emplified  in  the  agricultural  regions  of  the  United 
States."  "Were  I,"  he  concludes,  <£to  draw  a  picture 
of  all  the  highly  important  consequences  which  sug 
gest  themselves  to  my  mind,  on  this  subject,  I  fear  I 
might  be  called  a  speculative  enthusiast."  His  fears 
were  realized.  The  scheme  evidently  made  no  im 
pression  upon  the  shrewd,  experienced  and  practical 
men,  the  wealthy  Jews  of  Europe,  to  whom  it  was 
especially  addressed  ;  for  nothing  came  of  it. 

Certain  portions  of  this  pamphlet,  however,  are 
interesting,  which  relate  to  the  condition  of  the  Jews 
in  Europe,  sixty  years  ago,  the  extent  of  their  emi 
gration  then  to  the  United  States,  and  the  prospect 
this  country  held  out  to  them.  He  pertinently  re 
marks  that  among  the  immense  variety  and  number 
of  emigrants  who  had  then  come  to  the  United  States, 
either  in  the  pursuit  of  gain  or  forpolitical  or  reli 
gious  reasons,  very  few  had  been  of  the  Jewish  persua 
sion,  which  he  says,  had  arisen  from  a  variety  of 
causes.  He  remarks  that  the  education  and  general 
habits  of  the  Jews  in  Europe  have  fixed  them  in  com- 
mercial  cities  and  towns.  That  those  who  have  ac 
quired  wealth  live  in  luxurious  magnificence  and 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  95 

"consider  Europe  the  only  proper  theatre  on  which 
they  can  exist  and  flourish."  That  those  who  have 
emigrated  to  the  United  States  have  been  in  general 
of  the  opulent  class  and  pursue  the  avocation  of  their 
class  in  Europe  ;  that  they  were  then  (1819)  the  chief 
stock  and  money  brokers  in  all  the  large  cities  of  the 
United  States  and  that  it  was  rare  to  find  one  who 
was  an  artisan,  and  still  more  rare  to  see  any  who 
were  agriculturists,  or  following  rural  occupations. 

"The  habitual  propensity  of  the  Jews,"  he  says,  "to 
engage  in  any  other  pursuits  than  agriculture,  does 
not  arise  from  the  want  of  physical  or  moral  energy, 
or  any  inherent  aversion  to  cultivate  the  soil;  but  it  is 
the  effect  of  long  continued  social  and  political  dis 
abilities  which  has  made  it  a  matter  of  necessity  with 
them  for  centuries,  to  limit  themselves  to  avocations 
which  can  be  pursued  in  cities  and  towns.  If 
disposed  to  follow  agriculture  as  a  means  of  subsist 
ence  they  are  deterred  by  imperious  difficulties,  the 
chief  of  which  in  European  countries  has  been  the 
uncertainty  that  has  attended  their  social  and 
political  state. 

"If  a  Jew,"  he  continues,  "retires  into  the  country, 
though  surrounded  by  neighbors,  he  feels  himself  to 
be  an  isolated  being,  for  he  is  cut  off  by  existing  pre 
judices  from  that  social  intercourse  which  is  the  chief 
felicity  of  man.  Those  who  surround  him  deride  or 
pity  him.  He  has  no  synagogue  that  he  can  enter 
to  adore  his  God  according  to  the  faith  of  his  fathers, 
and  therefore  the  constant  disposition  to  live  in  cities 
or  towns,  where  he  can  associate  with  his  own  creed 
and  resort  to  a  temple  of  worship,  where  he  can  fulfil 
what  he  conscientiously  believes  to  be  his  religious 
obligations.  How  much  worse,"  he  adds,  "is  the  con 
dition  of  the  poorer  class  surrounded  by  poverty  and 
scorn ,  constituting  no  recognized  link  of  the  general 


96  JEWS    IN   NORTH    AMERICA 

bond  that  holds  society  together,  and  uncertain  of 
reaping  the  precarious  fruits  of  their  personal  indus 
try.  Hence  is  it,  that  the  situation  of  that  class  in 
Europe  is  so  abject  and  wretched  We  behold  them 
carrying  on  the  most  menial  occupations  to  gain  a 
livelihood,  and  the  means  by  which  they  gain  it, 
besides  being  very  precarious,  do  not  suffice  to  furnish 
their  families  with  more  than  a  wretched  pittance, 
and  yet  they  are  found  under  all  these  disabilities,  to 
be  an  industrious,  abstemious  and  persevering  race  of 
people.  "To  what  part  of  the  habitable  globe,"  he  says 
"can  the  Jews  fly  for  an  asylum,  where  will  they  be 
exempt  from  persecution  and  oppression  ?  No  part 
of  Europe  offers  to  them  a  secure  or  convenient 
refuge;  nor  can  they  seek  it  in  Asia  or  Africa,"  and 
then  remarks  that  the  United  States  of  North  Ameri 
ca,  where  the  field  for  enterprise  is  immense,  which  is 
the  only  government  among  civilized  nations  that  has 
wisely  rejected  any  exclusive  establishment,  and 
where  neither  sectnor  individual  is  molested  on  account 
of  religion,  is  the  only  country  upon  earth  that  affords 
to  them  the  means  of  regeneration,  of  security  and 
comfort.  (92) 

Since  these  pages  were  written,  thousands  of  Israel 
ites  who  never  read  or  heard  of  Mr  Robinson's  pam 
phlet,  have  quitted  Europe  and  made  the  United 
States  the  home  of  themselves  and  of  their  posterity. 
In  no  country,  except  in  France  previously,  had  the 
same  rights  been  conceded  to  them,  in  none  had  such 
a  field  been  opened  to  them  for  individual  exertion, 


92.  It  would  be  interesting  to  learn  how  far,  if  at  all  this 
influenced  Mordecai  Noah  in  the  formation  of  his  scheme  very  soon 
afterwards  of  founding  a  Hebrew  colony  on  Grand  Island,  in 
Niagara  River.  A  detailed  and  very  interesting  account  of  this 
scheme  will  be  found  in  Judge  Daly's  Supplementary  Chapter.— 
EDITOR. 


THE    JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  97 

and  -in  none  have  they  in  an  equal  period  of  time, 
augmented  so  rapidly.  There  are  and  have  been  for 
along  time, wealthier  Israelites  in  Europe  than  in  the 
United  States,  but  in  the  Uniced  States  material 
prosperity  has  been  more  widely  diffused  among, 
them. 

It  is  now  nearly  a  century  since  the  breaking  out 
of  the  American  Revolution,  and  during  the  whole 
of  that  time,  Jews  have  enjoyed  in  nearly  every  State 
in  the  Union  the  same  rights  as  all  other  citizens. 
For  more  than  half  a  century  the  last  vestige  has  dis 
appeared  in  any  State  that  made  a  distinction  in  its 
laws  between  them  and  others.  This  policy  upon 
the  part  of  the  government  of  the  United  States  and 
of  the  several  States,  has  not  only  been  beneficial  to  the 
Israelites  and  to  the  country  that  inaugurated  it,  but 
it  lias  reacted  upon  Europe,  and  as  a  consequence  of- 
it,  in  most  European  countries  nearly  every  restric 
tion  upon  them  has  been  swept  away. 

It  has  been  remarked  of  the  Jews  that  though 
hitherto  retaining  in  all  countries  the  characteristics 
of  a  distinct  race,  they  have  nevertheless  imbibed  and 
felt  the  nationality  of  the  country  where  they  were 
born  or  dwelt.  Thus  a  French  Jew  is  essentially  a 
Frenchman,  as  a  German  Jew  is  essentially  a  German,., 
or  an  English  Jew,  in  appearance,  feeling,  and  pre 
judice,  is  an  Englishman.  This  is  even  more  marked 
n  this  country,  for  none  are  more  devoted  to  the 
Republican  government  of  the  United  States  than  its 
Jewish  citizens. 

The  Jews  in  the  United  States  are  estimated  at 
about  300,000)  in  1872),  and  something  over  one- third 
are  assumed  to  be  of  native  birth.  As  they  enjoy  here 
all  the  privileges  of  other  citizens,  as  their  children  are 
educated  in  the  public  schools  with  the  children  of 
other  denominations,  and  as  in  the  cities  they  mingle 


9  THE  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

constantly  with  all  classes  of  their  fellow  citizens,  in 
the  relation  of  business  and  socially,  it  might  be  sup 
posed  that  everything  which  marks  them  as  a  separate 
and  distinct  people  would,  under  such  circumstances, 
disappear.  But  this  is  a  slow  progress.  Usages,  cus 
toms  and  habits  survive  the  causes  that  produced 
them,  and  that  this  assimilation  does  not  take  place 
as  rapidly  as  might  be  inferred  from  these  favorable 
influences,  is  due,  not  so  much  to  any  antagonism  on 
the  part  of  the  people  here  or  other  denominations,  as 
to  the  fact  that  the  religious  belief  of  the  Jews  is  deep 
ly  incorporated  with  the  family  life;  and  thoughts, 
habits  and  feelings,  that  draw  their  vitality,  as  in  the 
case  of  the  Jews,  from  what  has  been  recognized 
and  adhered  to  in  the  family  for  centuries,  are 
not  easily  given  up.  What  is  inculcated  by  the  par 
ents  upon  the  child,  as  especially  appertaining  to  the 
family  to  which  he  belongs,  the  child  will  very  natur 
ally  when  a  man  inculcate  upon  his  offspring.  A  race 
so  widely  distributed  over  the  globe,  and  so  terribly 
persecuted  in  the  past,  owes  its  preservation  and 
continuance  as  a  connected  body  in  a  very  large  degree 
to  what  was  cherished,  maintained  and  inculcated  in 
the  family.  The  laws  and  the  prejudices  which  have 
hitherto  unjustly  separated  the  Jews  from  the  rest  of 
society,  have  drawn  them  in  closer  communion  with 
each  other,  and  made  the  family  with  them  both  a 
social  unit  and  a  religious  tie.  Living  essentially 
within  themselves, they  have  never  sought  proselytes, 
nor  sought  to  ally  themselves  with  those  who  differ  in 
race  or  creed.  It  is  very  remarkable  that,  whether 
living  under  free  or  despotic  governments  ;  whether 
suffering  under  restrictions  which  have  isolated  them 
as  a  separate  or  despised  class,  or  born  or  dwelling  in 
countries  where  there  are  no  such  restrictions  and 
where  they  enjoy  equally  with  others  every  individual 


THE   JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  99 

and  political  right  ;  they  still  keep  up  their  distinct 
characteristics;  as  a  general  rule,  abstaining  from  con 
necting  themselves  by  marriage  with  those  who  are 
not  of  their  own  denomination,  as  if  instinctively 
avoiding  to  mingle  their  blood  with  other  races.  In 
France,  since  1798,  there  has  been  nothing  in  the  laws 
or  in  the  course  of  the  government,  to  distinguish  them 
from  other  Frenchmen  ;  on  the  contrary,  some  of  the 
most  prominent  men  who  have  filled  important  posi 
tions  in  the  French  government,  have  been  Jews.  In 
the  city  of  New  York,  for  certainly  one  hundred 
years,  the  law  has  made  no  distinction  on  account  of 
their  religion,  and  in  other  cities  of  the  United  States, 
such  as  Philadelphia,  Charleston,  Savannah  and 
Richmond,  they  have,  at  least  since  the  American 
Revolution,  enjoyed  every  privilege  accorded  to  other 
citizens.  But  in  all  these  cities,  during  this  long 
period  of  time,  as  well  as  in  France,  there  has  been  no 
marked  change  in  this  respect.  The  marriage  of  a 
Jew  with  a  Christian  is  at  the  present  day  in  the  City 
of  New  York,  almost  as  unusual  and  exceptional  a 
circumstance  as  it  was  in  the  middle  of  the  last  cen 
tury.  Whether  this  will  continue,  or  whether  in 
countries  where,  as  in  France  and  the  United  States, 
the  liberalizing  effect  of  institution  and  the  social  and 
political  equality, they  are  designed  to  bring  about,will 
in  time  sweep  away  all  distinctions,  and  produce  a 
thorough  co-mingling  of  the  Israelites  with  other  ra 
ces,  is  one  of  those  problems  of  the  future,  in  respect 
to  which  no  writer,  in  view  of  the  historical  past,  is 
justified  in  expressing  an  opinion. 


CONTINUATION  IN  1893. 

When  I  augmented  my  Address  upon  the  Settlement 
of  the  Jews  in  North  America,  by  the  publication  of 
a  series  of  articles  in  the  Jewish  Times,  it  was  nry 
intention  to  close  with  an  account  of  the  settlement  of 
the  Jews  in  Richmond,  Virginia,  but  I  deferred  the 
preparation  of  the  final  article,  as  the  Rev.  Jacques  J. 
Lyons,  who  had  been  for  a  few  years  the  minister  of 
the  synagogue  Beth  Sholom  in  Richmond,  and  was  . 
then  in  charge  of  the  oldest  Jewish  congregation  in 
this  city,  called  upon  me  and  manifesting  great  interest 
in  my  investigation,*  proposed  to  procure  for  me  all 
that  war,  obtainable  respecting  the  Jews  in  Richmond. 
I  waited  for  that  information  for  a  considerable  length 
of  time,  when  I  heard  of  his  death,  and  would  then 
have  prepared  the  final  article  with  such  material  as  I 
possessed,  but  that  the  publication  of  the  Jewish 
Times  ceased  very  soon  thereafter. 

When  the  publisher  of  THE  AMERICAN  HEBREW 
expressed  a  desire  to  republish  that  which  I  had  writ 
ten,  I  promised  to  add  to  the  publication  what  I  would 
have  done  eighteen  years  ago,  but  for  the  causes  above 
stated. 

Upon  looking  recently,  however,  into  Mr.  Isaac  Mar-  - 
kens'  work  on  "The  Hebrews  in  America,"  published 
in  New  York,  1884,  I  find  that  this  has  beensubstap. 
tiallydone  in  the  information  there  supplied  (pp.  83-38), 
I    could    add  something  to  it,  but  it    would    consist 


*Mr.  Lyons,  who  in  conjunction  with  Rev.  Abraham  de  Solar 
published  a  work  stated  to  be  of  great  value  upon  the  Hebrew 
Calendar,  it  has  been  said  prepared  for  posthumous  publication 
"An  exhaustive  history  of  the  Jews  in  America,  containing  extreme  -; 
y  interesting  facts  connected  with  their  early  settlement  in  this, 
country,"  of  which  I  know  nothing  beyond  f.is  statement. 


«°2  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

only  of  dry  details,  which  are  not  of  interest  to  the 
general  reader.  All  that  I  can  do,  the-.efore,  to  fulfil 
my  promise  to  THE  AM  ERICAN  HEBREW  to  write  a  con 
cluding  part,  is  to  add  something  respecting  certain 
Jews  of  New  York,  who  came  within  my  own  period, 
all  of  whom,  with  one  exception,  I  knew  personally. 

The  Jews  of  New  York,  from -an  early  period  in  the 
present  century  were  great  patrons  of  the  Drama; 
several  of  them  were  actors  and  three  were  successful 
dramatists.  The  first  among  the  actors  in  the  order 
of  time,  was  Aaron  J.  Phillips.  He  was  a  native  of 
Philadelphia,  and  made  his  first  appearance  in  New 
York  at  the  Park  Theatre  in  1815,  and  continued  to 
be  a  member  of  the  stock  company  of  that  theatre  for 
3ome  years.  He  was  a  comedian  and  a  successful  im 
itator  of  Barnes,  a  celebrated  comic  actor  of  that  day. 
He  and  Barnes  appeared  as  the  Two  Dromios,  in 
Shakespeare's  Comedy  of  Errors,  and  Phillips'  imi 
tation  of  the  latter  was  so  perfect,  that  it  was  almost 
impossible  to  distinguish  one  from  the  other.  He  was 
aa  uncle  of  Mordecai  M.  Noah,  to  be  hereafter  referred 
to;  and  Cowell,  in  his  memoir,  says,  that  through  the 
influence  of  his  nephew,  who  was  then  an  editor  and 
.a  successful  dramatist,  Phillips  secured  the  part  of 
walking  gentleman,  in  which  he  says  he  was  anything 
but  interesting  from  his  ungainly  appearance,  and  that 
if  a  profile  of  his  person  had  been  taken  in  black,  the 
difference  could  not  be  told  between  it  and  the  shadow 
of  a  boy's  top,  with  two  pegs  sticking  out  of  it.  His 
peculiar  figure  and  face,  however,  were  of  service  when 
he  found  his  true  role  in  grotesque  comic  characters. 
He  was  afterwards  a  manager  of  theatres  in  different 
cities  in  the  United  States,  and  was  regarded  as  one  of 
the  best  actors  of  old  men  upon  the  American  stage 
in  his  time.  He  died  in  New  York  in  1826. 

Another  actor  of  the  same  name  was  Moses  S.  Phil- 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  'OJ 

lips,  who  though,  like  the  former,  a  native  of  Philadel 
phia,  where  he  was  born  in  1798,  was  from  his  after 
associations,  essentially  a  New  Yorker.  He  made  his 
-debut  at  the  Park  Theatre  in  New  York  in  1827,  as 
Maw  worm  in  the  "Hypocrite",  and  died  in  that  city 
in  1854.  He  was  also  a  manager  of  theatres  in  New 
York  and  other  cities  of  the  Union,  in  none  of  which 
was  he  financially  successful  from,  it  is  said,  his 
indolence  and  kind-heartedness. 

EMANUEL  JUDAH. 

Emauuel  Judah,  who  Brown,  in  his  history  of  the 
American  stage,  says,  was  born  in  New  York,  was  an 
.actor  of  a  higher  type  than  either  of  the  foregoing. 
He  first  appeared  in  New  York  for  the  benefit  of  Aaron 
J.  Phillips  in  1823,  and  was  then  announced  as  from 
the  Southern  Theatres,  where  he  was  always  a  favorite 
actor  I  saw  him  many  times  in  Savannah  in  the 
winter  of  1829  and  have  rarely  seen  an  actor  who  was 
so  uniformly  excellent  in  whatever  he  undertook,  and 
his  range,  within  what  is  called  the  legitimate  drama, 
was  a  wide  one.  He  was  a  very  gentlemanly  man, 
below  the  medium  height,  with  a  finely  proportioned 
person,  a  handsome  face,  and  a  voice  of  great 
sweetness,  and  power.  Though  he  played  attract  - 
ively  the  higher  parts  in  tragedy,  he  was  most 
•effective  in  melodrama  and  'in  what  was  then 
known  as  the  romantic  drama  and  was  excellent 
in  the  leading  parts  in  light  comedy. 

He  was  of  that  class  of  dramatic  artists  not  very 
often  found,  who  do  everything  well  that  they  under 
take  without  reaching  the  elevation  of  a  great  actor. 
He  played  occasionally  in  New  York  in  different  years, 
where,  apparently,  he  was  not  appreciated  as  fully  as 
he  deserved  to  be,  or  as  he  was  in  the  Southern  Cities, 
where  he  was  seen  more  frequently  and  in  a  greater 


104  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

range  of  characters.  He  was  drowned  in  the  Gulf  of 
Mexico  in  1839,  upon  a  voyage  from  New  Orleans  to 
Galveston  in  Texas. 

MORDECAI  M.  NOAH. 

Among  the  dramatists,  the  earliest  and  most  pro- 
minent  was  Mordecai  M.  Noah,  who,  as  a  journalist,  an 
author,  a  politican,  and  as  a  public  officer,  was  for 
many  years  one  of  the  best-known  men  in  New  York. 
He  was  born  in  Philadelphia  in  1786.  and  on  the 
maternal  side  was  of  what  in  this  country  is  looked 
upon  as  an  old  Jewish  lineage,  being  a  direct  descen 
dant  of  those  Jews,  who,  in  the  early  part  of  the  last 
century,  fled  from  Portugal  to  escape  the  torture,  the 
dungeon  or  the  faggot,  a'ld  in  one  of  his  addresses  he 
refers  to  an  aged  relative  in  this  country,  who,  to  the 
end  of  her  life  bore  the  mark  upon  her  wrist,  of  the 
rack  to  which  she  had  been  bound.  His  immediate 
family,  named  Nunez,  who  were  wealthy  residents 
of  lyisbon,  escaped  in  an  English  frigate  to  London, 
from  whence  they  emigrated  to  Georgia  with  Ogle  - 
thorpe,  and  were  among  the  founders  of  Savannah. 
The  principal  member  of  the  family,  Dr.  Nunez,  has 
been  before  referred  to. 

His  relatives  in  Philadelphia  had  been  active  and 
influential  supporters  of  the  American  Revolution  and 
there  was  a  tradition  in  the  family  that  General 
Washington  had  been  present  at  the  marriage  of  his 
parents.  Of  his  father,  whose  name  was  Manuel 
Noah,  I  know  nothing,  except  that  his  sou  was  left  at 
the  early  age  of  four  years  to  the  care  of  a  maternal 
grandfather  ;  that  when  walking  with  this  relative  in 
the  streets  of  Philadelphia  he  pointed  out  to  him  Dr. 
Franklin  and  his  wife,  and  took  him  when  a  boy  to 
the  opening  of  Congress,  where  he  saw  Washington, 
of  whom  throughout  his  life  he  retained  a  vivid 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  IO$ 

recollection.  In  Philadelphia  he  vras  put  to  the  trade 
of  a  carver  and  gilder,  which  owing  to  his  strong 
literary  tendencies  he  did  not  follow,  but  found  some 
other  occupation,  the  proceeds  of  which  supplied  him 
with  the  means  of  going  constantly  to  the  theatres,  iu 
respect  to  which  he  made  a  statement  worthy  of  the 
consideration  of  those  who  insist  upon  the  immoral 
effect  of  theatrical  representations.  '%I  went,"  he 
says,  "regularly  to  the  theatre,  rarely  missing  a  night, 
and  always  retired  to  bed  gratified  and  improved  after 
witnessing  a  good  play,  and  thus  escaped  the  haunts 
of  taverns  and  the  pursuit  of  depraved  pleasures, 
which  too  frequently  allure  and  destroy  young  men. 
I  have  therefore,  always  been  a  firm  friend  of  the 
drama";  in  confirmation  of  which  effect,  I  may  add 
that,  although  Noah  was  constantly  assailed  for  years 
during  his  career  as  a  journalist  and  a  politician,  and 
sometimes  by  most  vituperative  epithets,  I  do  not 
recall  an  attack  assailing  or  in  any  way  questioning 
the  purity  of  his  private  life. 

His  fondness  for  the  drama  led  him  tojoin  a  juven 
ile  company  of  amateurs,  where  his  chief  employ 
ment  appears  to  have  been  the  cutting  up  of  plays, 
the  substituting  of  new  passages,  the  casting  of  parts 
and  the  writing  of  couplets  for  exits,  and  this  youthful 
training  in  what  is  essential  for  dramatic  effect,  gave 
him  a  knowledge  of  what  is  requisite  in  the  construc 
tion  of  plays,  that  dramatic  authors  do  not  always 
possess;  which  was  thereafter  his  forte  as  a  dramatist, 
and  the  reason  why  his  plays  were  always  successful. 

In  early  manhood  he  went  to  Charleston  in  South 
Carolina,  where  he  became,  in  1810,  the  editor  of  a 
journal,  The  City  Gazette,  engaged  actively  in  poli 
tics,  and,  it  is  said,  studied  law.  Here  the  first  of  his 
plays  was  acted.  He  had  previously  written  in  Phil 
adelphia  a  melodrama  called  "The  Fortress  of  Sorren- 


IO6  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

to,"  which,  he  says,  was  never  performed.  The  one 
in  Charleston  he  called  Paul  and  Alexis,"  or,  "The 
Orphans  of  the  Rhine."  It  was  written  for  Mrs.  C. 
L.  Young,  an  English  actress,  then  playing  in  Char 
leston,  who  is  described  by  Ireland  as  a  perfect  blonde 
with  a  profusion  of  rich  golden  hair,  and  of  the  rarest 
beauty  of  person.  Though  not  remarkable  as  an  act 
ress,  she  wa;  a  great  favorite,  and  this  pretty  play 
was  doubtless  written  to  heighten  the  attraction  of 
her  personal  charms/  It  was  afterwards  taken  to  Lon 
don  by  her  husband,  where  it  was  altered  and  improv 
ed,  and,  with  its  name  changed  to  "The  Wandering 
Boys,"  was  brought  out  in  1820  at  the  Park  Theatre 
in  New  York  with  great  success.  It  had  the  attract- 
tion  of  two  fine  actresses,  Mrs.  Barnes  and  Miss  Johnson, 
Mrs.  Barnes,  then  and  for  many  years  one  of  the 
most  distinguished  actresses  upon  the  American  stage, 
as  the  fearless, intrepid  and  quick-witted  boy,  and  Miss 
Johnson,  afterwards  Mrs.  Hilson,  in  the  character  of 
his  timorous  and  shrinking  brother,  says  the  afore 
mentioned  author  of  "Records  of  the  New  York  stage,"" 
won  universal  applause,  through  the  force  and  truth 
fulness  of  their  acting,  which  I  can  affirm,  having,  when 
a  boy,  seen  them  both  in  this  play,  which  for  many 
years  thereafter  continued  to  be  one  of  the  most 
attractive  and  popular  upon  the  stage. 

Our  naval  war  with  Tripoli,  which  began  in  r8o2, 
drew  Noah's  attention  to  the  Birbary  States.  It  led 
him  to  the  study  of  the  history  of  that  part  of  North 
Africa  from  the  Carthaginian  period  downward,  and 
filled  him  with  a  strong  desire  to  visit  these  States,  as 
he  said,  "to  seek  out  the  ruins  of  Utica  and  trace,  if 
possible,  the  field  of  Zama,1'  the  scene  of  Scipio's  vic 
tory  over  Hannibal.  There  was  another  attraction: 
The  Jews,  from  the  time  of  the  Romans,  hi.d  settled 
extensively  in  North  Africa,  and  their  number  had 


/>  or       *  %., 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  IOJ 

been  largeiy  augmented  by  the  persecution  that  drove 
them  out  of  Spain.     To  obtain  authentic  information 
respecting  this  branch  of  the  people   of  Israel,  where 
they  weresituated,  their  character,  their  resources  aud 
their  number,  was  to  so  earnest  a  member  of  that  faith 
as  he  was,  a  strong  inducement;  especially  as  no  Jew 
ish  travelers,  whose  works  were  extant,  had  traversed 
these  countries  since  the  journey  of  Benjamin  of  Tud- 
ela  in  the  thirteenth  century.     But  as  these  countries 
were  then  inhabited  by  barbarians,  it  was  not   safe  to 
venture  for  such  a  purpose,  beyond  the  limits  of  the 
sea  board  cities,    without   the  security  of  an    armed 
force;  and  as  this  was  always  obtainable  by  a  consul 
such  a  position  was  desirable,  and   the   Consulates  of 
Tunis  and  Tripoli  were  not  then  filled.    He  according 
ly  applied  for  an  appointment  to  one  of  them,  and  as 
he  had  been  very  active  in  politics  in  Charleston,  and 
had  become  quite  prominent,  he  was  able  to  bring  so 
much  influence  to  bear  in  support  of   his   ?ppHc?.ticn 
that  President  Mddison,  while  indisposed  to  grant  his* 
particular  request,  offered  him  the  Consulship  of  Riga, 
This  was  an  important  commercial  port  on  the  Baltic, 
but  a  continental  war  was  then  prevailing  that  would 
have  made  the  position  an  isolated  cneandhe  declined 
the  appointment.     But  two  years  afterwards,  in  1813, 
a  state  of  things  arose  that  enabled  him  to  get  the  post 
that  he  wanted.     Though  our  naval  war  with  Tripoli 
was  brought  by  our  fleet  to  a  successful   end,  aud  we 
were  in  a  position  to   dictate  what  terms  we  pleased, 
our  negotiations  were  so  unskilfully    managed  by  our 
diplomatic  representative,  that  we  had  to  pay  a  con 
siderable  sum  of  money  when  the  Treaty  of  Peace  was 
signed. 

This  greatly  lessened  the  respect  for  us  by  the  other 
Barbary  powers  and  especially  on  the  part  of  the 
Algerines.  To  secure  our  commerce  in  the  Mediter- 


I08  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

raneau,  we  had  for  some  years  paid  an  armed  tribute 
to  this  nest  of  pirates,  but  the  large  sum  we  had  paid 
to  Tripoli  for  a  Treaty  of  Peace,after  we  had  conquered 
it,,  led  the  Algerines  to  suppose  that  they  could  make 
more  by  preying  upon  our  commerce,  which  had  then 
become  considerable  in  the  Mediterranean,  and  they 
abruptly  dismissed  our  Consul,  captured  a  vessel  from 
£»alem  and  reduced  the  officers  and  crew,  consisting  of 
twelve  persons,  to  slavery.  This  made  it  necessary 
to  send  out  a  judicious  and  competent  representative 
to  ascertain  the  real  cause  of  this  course  on  the  part 
of  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  as  well  as  to  secure  the  emanci" 
pation  of  our  enslaved  countrymen,  and  Noah  was 
appointed  for  this  important  service.  We  were  then 
at  war  with  England,  in  consequence  of  which  he 
sailed  from  Charleston  in  a  vessel,  bound  for  France, 
which  was  captured  by  the  British  fleet  off  the  French 
coast. 

The  crew  and  some  of  the  passengers  were 
lauded  in  France,  but  Noah  was  detained  as  a  prisoner 
of  war,  and,  being  regarded  as  a  person  of  importance 
was  courteously  treated  by  the  officers  of  different 
vessels  of  the  fleet  to  which  he  was  successively  trans 
ferred,  until  an  opportunity  was  afforded  of  sending 
him  to  Bni>laiid;  and  when  he  arrived  at  Plymouth, 
this  courteous  treatment  was  continued  and  he  was 
flowed  to  remain  at  liberty  upon  his  parole.  This 
•enabled  him  to  visit  London  and  other  English  cities 
anid  to- obtain  considerable  knowledge  of  the  country 
a+id  people;  After  some  months  he  was  released,  and 
sailing  for  Cadiz  in  Spain,  entered  upon  the  duties  of 
his  office-,  which  was  that  of  Consul  at  Tunis,  with 
certain  powers  in  respect  to  Algiers.  In  Tunis  he 
displayed  considerable  intrepidity  and  capacity  in 
Maintaining  and  securing  successfully  the  right  of 
asylum  attaching  to  the  Consulate,  so  essential  in 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  1 09 

the  general  interest  of  humanity,  in  these  arbitrary 
and  badly  administered  governments. 

After  sufficient  time  had  elapsed  for  investigation, 
he  reached  the  conclusion  and, so  advised  our  govern 
ment,  that  diplomacy  could  accomplish  nothing  with 
the  Algerines.  That  a  state  of  war  would  have  to  be 
recognized,  and  a  sufficient  naval  force  despatched  to 
subdue  them,  which  advice  our  government  acted  up 
on  and  sent  out  a  squadron  under  Commodore  Decatur. 

By  the  written  instructions  of  Monroe,  who  was 
then  Secretary  of  State,  Noah  was  authorized  at  some 
place,  upon  his  way  to  Tunis,  to  devise  means  for  the 
liberation  of  the  American  captives  of  Algiers  ;  to  ex 
pend  for  their  ransom  any  sum  not  exceeding  $3,000 
for  eacli  person,  to  find  a  suitable  channel  through 
which  he  could  negotiate  for  their  immediate  release 
without  its  being  understood  to  proceed  from  our 
government,  but  rather  from  the  friends  of  the  parties 
themselves,  and,  if  successful,  he  was  authorized  to 
draw  upon  the  United  States  Government  for  the  ue 
cessary  funds  for  the  payment  of  the  ransom  of  the 
captives  and  the  expense  of  their  return  to  the  United 
States. 

In  pursuance  of  these  instructions  he  found,  upon 
reaching  Cadiz,  an  American  named  Keene,  who  had 
been  naturalized  as  a  Spanish  subject,  and  who  was 
highly  recommended  to  him  by  the  American  Consu- 
there  for  this  service.  In  employing  him  there  was 
not  only  the  advantage  of  his  having  the  protection  of 
a  Spanish  subject,  but  Keene  was  able,  in  addition,  to 
procure  despatches  from  the  Spanish  Government  and 
special  letters  from  the  British  Embassador  at  the  Court 
of  Spain,  to  the  British  Consul  at  Algiers. 

Noah  consequently  engaged  him  and  agreed  to  pay 
him,  if  successful,  $3,000  for  his  services.  Noah  could 
not  have  gone  himself  in  his  diplomatic  character  to 


HO  JEWS    IN    NORTH<  AMERICA 

Algiers,  which  would  not  only  have  been  a  departure 
from  his  instructions,  but  as  the  Algerines  were  then 
in  open  warfare  with  the  United  States,  he  would 
probably  not  have  been  recognized,  and  if  he  had  gone 
there  in  any  other  character,  and  it  was  discovered 
that  he  was  an  American,  he  would  have  been  seized 
and  sold  into  slavery. 

Keene, after  an  absence  of  six  months, brought  back 
with  him  six  persons  for  whose  rescue  Noah  expended 
$18,000,  obtaining  the  money  by  drawing  bills  of 
Exchange  on  the  United  States  Government,  which 
he  got  discounted  at  Gibraltar. 

But  $4000  of  the  money  was  expended  by  Keene  in 
Tunis.  It  was  paid  for  the  restoration  of  two  of  the 
twelve  who  had  been  captured  with  the  vessel  from 
Salem.  The  other  four  persons  that  Keene  returned 
with  had  been  brought  to  Tunis  after  Keene  had  ar 
rived  there.  They  were  landed  from'[a|^British  fri 
gate  in  Algiers  and  were  consequently  in[the  custody 
there  of  the  British  Consul.  They  claimed  to  be 
Americans  and  were  probably  natives  of  Louisiana. 
The  British  Consul  was  satisfied  that  they  were  Amer 
icans,  and  as  an  act  of  humanity,  for,  having  openly 
avowed  themselves  to  be  Americans,  they  could  have 
been  seized  by  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  the  Consul  turned 
them  over  to  Keene,  who  brought  them  away  with 
him.  Nothing  was  paid  for  them,  and  the  balance, 
$14,000  of  the  money  expended,  was  applied  in  the 
care  of  these  six  persons,  which  included  sending  them 
back  to  the  United  States  and  $6000  of  it  was  paid  to 
Keene,  which  was  double  the  amount  he  was  to  receive 
by  his  contract.  He  told  along  and  complicated  story, 
which  Noah  believed, of  the  difficulty  he  had  toencoun- 
ter,  of  the  risk  he  ran  of  his  life,  and  the  expenses  he 
had  been  put  to,  and  Noah  considered,  in  view  of  all 
the  circumstances,  that  he  was  entitled  to  the  $6000 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  Hi 

that  he  claimed.  The  government,  however,  was  not 
satisfied  with  the  transaction,  and,  to  Noah's  con 
sternation,  the  bills  of  exchange  he  had  drawn  upon 
it,  came  back  protested. 

Noah  was  placed  in  a  critical  position.  He  was 
responsible  on  the  bills  of  the  exchange  as  the  drawer 
of  them,  and  having  no  means  to  pay  them,  was  liable 
to  be  arrested  in  Tunis  and  thrown  into  prison.  No 
consul  in  Barbary  would  be  lecognized  whose  bills 
were  known  to  have  been  protested  by  the  govern 
ment,  and,  as  he  states,  he  would,  have  been  left  to 
starve  for  want  of  assistance  and  would  have  been 
subjected  to  insult  and  ill-treatment  by  the  Ber 
bers.  He  had  no  idea  that  the  government  conceived 
that  he  had  gone  beyond  his  instructions  and  supposed 
that  the  Department,  when  the  bills  were  presented 
was  without  immediate  funds  to  meet  them;  for 
during  the  war  with  Great  Britain  our  finances  were 
in  a  wretched  condition  and  the  credit  of  the  govern 
ment  was  greatly  impaired,  both  at  home  and  abroad. 
The  protested  paper,  which  with  the  loss  and  damage 
arising  from  the  protest,  amounted  to  over  $2r,ooo, 
was  sent  by  the  creditors  to  the  British  Consul  at 
Tunis  with  positive  and  unyielding  orders  to  seize 
the  person  and  property  of  Noah  for  the  payment  of 
the  bills.  The  Consul,  however,  was  considerate  and 
agreed  to  wait  until  the  arrival  of  Decatur,  believing 
with  Noah,  that  lie  would  biing  with  him  the  money 
to  pay  them. 

Decatur's  squt-dron  arrived,  and  encountering  an 
Alger-ine  frigate,  he  captured  it  after  a  fierce  battle  in 
which  an  admiral  who  had  long  been  celebrated  in 
the  Mediterranean  and  had  become  a  terror  to  the 
Christian  nations,  was  killed.  Decatur  followed  this 
up  by  the  captuie  of  anoiher  cruiser,  after  which  he 
blockaded  Algeiia  so  effectually  as  to  cut  it  off  from 
all  access  by  sea. 


112  JEWS    IN   NORTH    AMERICA 

This  brought  to  terms  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  who  was 
compelled  to  sign  a  treaty  dictated  by  the  American 
Commander,  by  the  terms  of  which  all  American  cap 
tives  were  released  and  the  United  States  relieved 
from  any  payment  of  tribute  to  those  sea  robbers 
thereafter. 

This  being  accomplished,  Decatur  sailed  for  Tunis 
to  enforce  a  claim  for  indemnity  from  the  Bey  of 
Tunis  for  surrendering  to  the  English  two  of  our 
prizes,  which  were  lying  in  that  port.  Upon  Deca- 
tur's  arrival,  Noah  went  on  board  his  vessel  and  the 
commander  taking  him  into  his  cabin,  handed  him  a 
dispatch  from  Mr.  Monroe,  the  Secretary  of  State. 
This  Noah  supposed  would  contain  the  explanation 
of  the  protests  of  the  bills,  but  on  the  contrary,  he 
found  it  to  be  a  very  curt  letter,  informing  him  that 
it  was  not  known  at  the  time  of  his  appointment  that 
his  religion  would  be  any  obstacle  to  the  exercise  of 
his  consular  functions,  but  that  recent  information  on 
which  entire  reliance  could  be  placed,  proved  that  it 
would  have  a  very  unfavorable  effect;  that  the  Presi 
dent,  therefore,  had  deemed  it  expedient  to  revoke 
his  commission,  and  that  upon  receipt  of  this  letter 
he  would  consider  himself  as  no  longer  in  the  service 
of  the  United  States.  To  this  the  Secretary  added 
that  there  were  some  circumstances  connected  with 
his  accounts  that  required  explanation, as  those  already 
given  had  not  been  approved  by  the  President.  This 
was  a  blow  that  would  have  unnerved  any  ordinary 
man;  but  Noah,  in  this  emergency,  showed  the  cap 
acity  and  cleverness  for  managing  a  financial"  diffi 
culty,  that  is  characteristic  of  his  race.  A  glance  at 
Decatur's  face  satisfied  him  that  the  Commander  knew 
nothing  of  the  contents  of  the  letter,  and  with  that 
assurance  he  instantly  devised  a  scheme  to  extricate 
himself  from  his  pecuniary  embarrassment.  ''If  he 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  113 

had  known,"  says  Noah  in  the  vindication,  which  he 
published,  "what  was  contained  in  the  letter,  it  would 
have  been  his  duty,  and  which  he  would  have  exer 
cised  promptly,  to  have  sent  an  officer  on  shore  to 
take  possession  of  the  seals  and  the  archives  of  the 
Consulate,  and  I  would,"  he  says,  "have  returned  to 
Tunis  stripped  of  power,  an  outcast,  degraded,  dis 
graced  and  with  a  heavy  debt  against  me.  I  would, 
in  all  probability,  have  gone  into  a  dungeon,  where  I 
might  have  perished,  neglected  and  unpitied." 

Quietly  folding  up  the  letter  and  putting  it  in  his 
pocket,  he  proceeded  to  give  Decatura  full  account  of 
the  nature  of  our  dispute  with  Tunis,  explaining  it 
with  documents  in  his  possession  that  he  had  brought 
with  him.  Having  done  this,  he  then  suggested  to 
the  Commodore  that,  instead  of  going  to  the  Dey 
himself  and  demanding  the  payment  of  the  indemnity, 
he  should  leave  the  whole  matter  to  him  as  Consul; 
that,  as  he  had  experience  in  dealing  with  these  Ber 
bers,  he  would  be  able  more  effectually  to  secure 
the  payment  of  the  money;  and  that,  for  that  purpose, 
Decatur  should  give  him  a  letter  to  the  Tunisian 
minister,  making  a  formal  demand,  as  Commander  of 
the  squadron,  for  the  indemnity.  The  great  stake 
that  Noah  had  at  issue  led  him  a  little  too  far  in  the 
vehemence  with  which  he  urged  this  proposition,  so 
as  to  attract  the  attention  of  Decatur,  who  could  not 
understand  Noah's  anxiety  that  it  should  be  left  solely 
to  him,  as  Consul,  to  obtain  the  money,  when  Decatur 
was  there  with  his  squadron,  and  could  enforce  the 
payment  of  it  as  effectually  as  he  had  brought  the  Dey 
of  Algiers  to  terms.  He  suspected  that  some  other 
motive  dictated  Noah's  extraordinary  warmth  as  he 
piled  arguments  upon  arguments  with  such  vehe 
mence;  and  finally  told  him  that  if  he  imagined  that 
he,  Decatur,  was  there  under  his  orders,  he  must  un. 


114  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

deceive  himself.  Noah  quickly  saw  his  peril.  "It 
was  evident,''  he  say-;,  "that  a  storm  was  gathering 
that  would  have  destroyed  all  my  plans,"  and  with 
that  adroitness  he  displayed  throughout  the  whole  of 
this  transaction,  he  succeeded  in  calming  our  cele 
brated  naval  hero  by  the  assurance  that  he  wished 
mainly  to  co-operate  with  him  in  such  measures  as 
Decatur's  own  prudence  would  dictate,  as  they  were 
both  there  to  serve  their  country  in  the  best  manner 
they  could.  This  satisfied  the  Commodore,  Who  gave 
him  theletter,aud  who  upon  the  whole  was  pleaded  with 
the  prompt  way  Noah  pointed  out  of  accomplish 
ing  the  result  the  squadton  had  come  there  to  bring 
about.  It  was  then  night;  Noah  betook  himself  to  rest 
on  the  cabin  floor,  in  a  state  of  mind  that  did  not  invite 
repose,  and,  that  there  might  be  no  opportunity  for 
Decatur  to  reconsider  his  action  upon  more  mature 
deliberation,  the  anxious  ex-consul,  at  the  earliest 
approach  of  dawn,  got  the  officer  of  the  deck  to  send 
him  off  in  a  boat  to  the  shore. 

On  his  way  to  Tunis  he  pondered  over  Monroe's  let 
ter,  which  he  found  difficult  to  understand,  as  the  gov 
ernment  was  not  only  acquainted  with  his  religion  at 
the  time  of  his  appointment,  but  knew  that  it  was  one 
of  the  reasons  why  he  desired  it  and  it  was  not  known 
in  Tunis  that  he  was  a  Jew.  He  states,  what  was  pro 
bably  true,  that  in  the  exercise  of  his  consular  func 
tions  he  was  not  only  respected,  but  even  feared  by  the 
Tunisian  government  and  enjoyed  the  esteem  and  good 
will  of  every  resident. 

He  promptly  submitted  Decatur's  demand  to  the 
Minister  of  Marine,  who  receiving  it  in  no  very  good 
humor,  sent  for  him  and  after  declaring  that  this  was 
not  a  proper  and  respectful  manner  of  proceeding  in 
such  a  matter,  asked  him  why  the  Ameiican  Com 
mander  did  not  come  and  make  his  complaint  to  the 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  115 

Dey  in  person,  and  why  he  demanded  an  answer  forth 
with  ;  that  they  were  not  accustomed  to  be  treated  in 
such  a  manner  ;  that  there  was  a  time  when  the  United 
States  waited  upon  their  pleasure  to  make  a  treaty, 
and  not  only  paid  for  it,  but  gave  them  presents. 
Noah  calmly  answered  that  that  was  an  affair  of  the 
past.  That  they  ought  to  have  complied  with  the 
demand  of  the  United  States  before  the  arrival  of  the 
squadron  ;  that  it  was  now  too  late  and  that  Commo 
dore  Decatur  had  determined  not  to  land  without  a 
favorable  answer.  "Why,  Consul,"  said  the  Minister, 
"are  you  so  tranquil?  Before  the  fleet  was  here, 
you  were  loud  and  positive, but  now  that  you  are  back 
ed  by  a  force,  you  suddenly  become  quiet  and  indif 
ferent."  "Because,"  said  Noah,  "remonstrance  is  no 
longer  necessary  War  is  now  inevitable.  We  have 
made  peace  with  Algiers  upon  our  own  terms  and  the 
squadron  is  here  for  another  contest,  as  it  is  better  to 
have  no  treaty  than  one  that  is  not  respected."  This 
was  followed  by  an  interview  with  the  Dey,  and  the 
following  morning  the  money  demanded,  $46,000  was 
sent  to  the  Consulate 

Decatur  naturally  expected  that  the  money  would 
be  given  to  him  to  carry  back  to  the  United  States» 
and  made  inquiries  as  to  his  right  to  receive  and 
retain  it.  But  Noah  was  able  to  satisfy  Decatur  on  this 
point,  who  supposed  he  was  still  the  Consul.  "I 
did  not  tell  him,"  says  Noah,  "why  I  wished  to  retain 
possession  of  the  money,  or  that  I  expected  to  be  in 
America  before  he  was."  The  purpose  of  the  visit  to 
Tunis  having  been  accomplished,  the  squadron  dt- 
parted.  As  soon  as  it  was  gone,  Noah  paid  the  bills  of 
exchange  with  the  interest  and  damage,  out  of  the 
money  of  the  government  in  his  possession,  and  leaving 
the  Consulate  in  charge  of  a  subordinate,  he  returned 
to  the  United  States  and  settled  in  New  York,  where, 


Il6  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

in  a  few  years,  he  bee  ame  prominent  as  a  journalist, 
and  lived  there  for  the  remainder  of  his  life.  In  going 
through  Paris,  on  his  journey  home,  it  is  said,  that  he 
accidentally  met  and  recognized  his  father,  whom  he 
had  not  seen  from  the  time  that  he  was  five  years  of 
age. 

Immediately  upon  his  return  he  went  to  Washington  t 
and  called  upon  Monroe,  who,  he  says,  received  him 
ungraciously, and  instead  of  a  restoration  as  he  expect 
ed,  to  an  office  of  equal  rank,  accused  him  of 
going  beyond  his  orders,  of  employing  a  most  obnox 
ious  character,  of  expending  the  public  money  unne 
cessarily,  and  justified  his  recall  and  the  manner  of  it. 
This  is  difficult  to  understand  as  Noah  represents  it, 
for  Monroe  was  an  upright  and  a  capable  man  and 
was  not  without  experience  as  a  diplomatic  represent 
ative,  having  been  our  Minister  to  England,  and  as 
our  Envoy  to  France  had  secured  the  acquisition 
of  Louisiana.  He  was  also  a  patriotic  man  who,  when 
acting  as  Secretary  of  War,  pledged  his  personal  credit 
to  o.btain  the  funds  that  were  necessary  for  the  defence 
of  New  Orleans,  and  retired  from  the  Presidency  im 
paired  alike  in  health  and  in  fortune.  John  Quincy 
Adams  said  of  him  upon  his  retirement,  that  he  was 
always  honest  and  sincere  ;  of  intentions  always  pure, 
of  labors  outlasting  the  daily  circuit  of  the  sun  and 
outwatching  the  vigils  of  the  night;  that  with  a  mind 
always  anxious  in  the  pursuit  of  right  he  was  patient 
of  inquiry;  patient  of  contradiction  ;  courteous,  always 
sound  in  his  ultimate  judgment  and  firm  in  his  final 
conclusions,  and  it  is  difficult  to  suppose  that  such  a 
man  would  treat  Noah  in  the  way  that  he  did,  unless 
there  was  something  more  than  appears  in  the  latter's 
narrative. 

Noah,  himself,  acknowledged  Monroe's  high  qual 
ities,  for  in  the  vindication  he  published,  he  says  that 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  I  17 

notwithstanding  the  treatment  he  had  received  at  his 
hands,  he  advocated  him  for  Presidency  and  sustained 
his  administration,  as  he  believed  him  to  be  an  honest 
man  and  a  patriot.  But  this  was  not  as  disinterested 
as  it  appears.  Political  consistency,  or  fidelity  to 
party  were  at  no  time  among  Noah's  characteristics. 
The  fact  was  that  there  was  no  party  at  the  time,  in 
opposition  to  Monroe,  to  go  to.  The  successful  term 
ination  of  the  war,  the  effect  of  the  holding  of  the 
Hartford  Convention,  and  the  rapid  advance  in  the 
prosperity  of  the  country,  had  completely  overthown 
the  federal  party  and  it  was  then  extinct.  Monroe 
was  elected  President  almost  without  opposition  and 
was  re  elected  with  more  unanimity  than  any  one 
since  Washington,  receiving  every  vote  cast  in  the 
electoral  college  except  one.  In  fact,  the  whole 
period  of  his  administration  is  aptly  described  by  the 
phrase  then  so  often  applied  to  it  of  "The  Era  of  Good 
Feeling." 

It  took  Noah  a  year  to  get  his  accounts  adjusted,  in 
cluding  several  visits  on  his  part  to  Washington,  and 
when  they  were,  he  received  a  written  acknowledg 
ment  from  the  adjusting  officer  that  the  government 
was  indebted  to  him  in  a  sum  of  over  five  thousand 
dollars.  This  was  a  recognition  that  he  was  justified 
in  paying  the  amount  of  the  protested  bills  out  of  the 
money  of  the  government  in  his  possession, and  armed 
with  this  important  document,  he  called  upon  Monroe 
who,  however,  refused  to  see  him  and  turned  him  over 
to  a  subordinate. 

When  he  settled  in  New  York  in  1816,  Henry 
Wheaton,  afterwards  the  distinguished  author  of  the 
well  known  authoritative  work  on  International  L,aw, 
having  been  appointed  a  Judge  of  the  Marine  Court, 
retired  from  the  editorship  of  the  National  Advocate, 
a  daily  journal  that  had  been  established  by  the 


Il8  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

Tamraauy  Hall  party  in  1813,  and  as  Noah  was  out  of 
employment  and  had  had  some  experience  in  journal 
ism  in  Charleston,  he  was  appointed  Wheaton's 
successor  and  continued  lo  be  the  editor  of  that  paper 
for  nearly  ten  years. 

In  1818,  a  new  synagogue  was  erected  upon  the  site 
of  the  old  one  in  Mills  Street,  and  Noah,  upon  its 
consecration,  delivered  the  dedicatory  address.  In  this 
address  he  referred  to  his  family,  stating  that  his 
grandfather, 'as  pastor  of  the  congregation, stood  in  the 
spot  where  he  was  then  standing,seventy  years  before, 
and  that  his  grandfather  and  his  great-grandfather  and 
his  great-great-grand  father  were  buried  in  the  cemetery 
before  reterred  to  in  Chatham  Square.  The  address 
was  chiefly  devoted  to  the  past  history  of  the  people  of 
Israel  with  an  expression  of  the  most  positive  convic 
tion  that  the  prophecy  in  respect  to  their  restoration 
as  a  nation  would  be  fulfiled.  He  pointed  out  how 
under  every  kind  of  persecution,  they  had  still  held  to 
gether  as  a  people,  preserving  their  ancient  faith;  that 
there  were  then  seven  millions  of  them  in  the  world, 
and  that  they  would  ultimately  deliver  the  north  of 
Africa  from  oppression,  break  the  Turkish  sceptre  and 
in  triumphant  numbers  would  possess  themselves  of 
Syria.  "This,"  he  said,  "is  not  fancy.  I  have  been 
too  much  among  them  in  Europe  and  in  North  Africa 
not  to  know  their  sentiments.  They  hold  the  purse- 
strings  of  the  world  and  can  wield  the  sword  and  bring 
an  army  of  a  hundred  thousand  men  into  the  field." 

This  was  with  him  no  new  idea.  The  restoration 
and  re-establishment  of  the  Jews  as  a  people  and  the 
gathering  of  them  together  under  the  free  and  toler 
ant  institution  of  the  United  States,  was  a  subject  up 
on  which  he  addressed  a  letter  in  1808  to  Thomas 
Jefferson,  to  which  the  author  of  the  Declaration  of 
Independence  made  the  pithy  reply,  that  "intolerance 


JEWS   IN   NORTH    AMERICA  I  19 

is  inherent  in  every  sect;  disclaimed  by  all  when  fee 
ble  and  practiced  by  all  when  in  power,  and  that  our 
laws  apply  the  only  antidote,  which  is  to  put  them  all 
on  an  equality." 

Noah's  occupation  as  a  journalist  brought  him 
into  frequent  connection  with  the  theatre  and  led  him 
to  return  to  dramatic  authorship.  In  1819,  he  wrote 
for  the  Park  Theatre,  a  clever  play  called,  "  She 
would  be  a  Soldier,  or  the  Plains  of  Chippewa,"  which 
from  its  own  merit  and  the  excellent  acting  of  Barnes 
and  Spiller  in  the  comic  characters,  and  that  of  Miss 
Leesugg,  an  English  actress,  in  the  part  of  the  hero, 
ine,  was  a  great  success.  Miss  Leesugg,  who  shortly 
afterwards  married  James  H.  Hackett,  the  celebrated 
comedian  and  retired  from  the  stage,  is  described 
as  being  at  this  time  in  the  bloom  of  youth,  with 
sparkling  eyes,  a  buxom  figure,  a  melodious  voice, 
great  sprightliness  and  vivacity,  and  as  the  very  Hebe 
of  actresses.  As  the  heroine  in  this  play,  in  which 
she  appears  to  have  been  particularly  attractive,  she 
introduced,  in  the  English  translation,  Hortense,  the 
Queen  of  Holland's  u  Partant  pour  le  Syrie,  "  which 
became  the  French  national  air  in  the  reign  of  her 
son,  Napoleon  III.  In  a  rich  contralto  voice,  she 
sang  this  romantic  ballad  with  so  much  effect,  that  it 
became  a  favorite  song  in  private  circles  for  some 
time  thereafter  and  underwent  the  unfailing  test  of 
popularity  of  being  successfully  parodied  in  a  comic 
song,  that  was  for  years  the  delight  of.  the  circus. 
Noah  in  addition  to  this,  wrote  seven  other  plays, 
all  of  which,  with  one  exception,  were  successful.* 

*  They  were  :  "Marion  or  the  Hero  of  Lake  George,"  '-The 
Grecian  Captive,''  The  Fortress  of  Sorrento,"  "The  New  Consti 
tution."  "The  Canal,"  "Yesop  Caramatti  or  the  Siege  of  Tripoli.1' 
Hudson  in  his  ''Journalism,"  attributes  to  him  four  other  plays,  in 
some  of  which  certainly  and  probably  in  all  this  writer  was  mis- 


120  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

This  was  called  the  "Grecian  Captive,"  which  he 
wrote  in  1822,  for  the  benefit  of  his  uncle,  Aaron  J. 
Phillips.  Noah  thought  it  would  add  to  the  attraction 
to  present  each  person  who  went  to  the  benefit  with  a 
printed  copy  of  the  play,  which  had  a  result  he  did 
not  anticipate ;  for  when  the  actors  looked  upon  the 
audience  and  saw  a  thousand  persons,  each  with  a 
book  in  hand,  turning  over  the  leaves,  with  the 
accompanying  buzz  and  flutter,  they  became  confused, 
forgot  their  parts  and  to  carry  on  the  action  of  the 
piece,  had  to  improvise,  by  saying  whatever  occurred 
to  them,  which  had  the  effect,  also,  to  confuse  the 
audience  in  attempting  to  follow  the  dialogue,  until  a 
climax  was  reached  by  what  the  beneficiary  thought 
would  produce  a  great  effect.  This  was  the  entry  of 
Phillips,  as  the  Turkish  Commander,  mounted  upon  a 
live  elephant,  that  had  been  procured  from  a  menag 
erie.  His  grotesque  figure  has  already  been  mentioned^ 
and  as  the  huge  animal,  with  Phillips  perched  on  the 
top  of  it,  came  marching  down  to  the  footlights,  to  the 
alarm  and  confusion  of  the  musicians  in  the  orchestra, 
Phillips,  unable  to  steady  himself  upon  the  unwieldly 
beast,  toppled  over  and  the  curtain  fell  amid  shouts  of 
laughter  from  all  parts  of  tiie  house.  Noah  was 
greatly  ridiculed  for  his  production,  and  had  the  man 
liness  to  come  out  in  his  paper  with  a  statement  that 
the  failure  of  his  drama  was  not  owing  to  the  actors, 


taken.  They  are  All  Pacha  or  the  Signet  Ring,  which  was  written 
by  John  Howard  Payne  ;  the  Siege  ot  Dalmatia,by  which  was  pio- 
bably  meant  the  Siege  of  Damascus,  which  was  not  written  by 
Noah,  but  by  John  Hughes,  in  which  Mr.  Hosack,  a  member  of  a  dis 
tinguished  family,  made  his  debut  at  the  Park  Theater  in  1826,  and 
neither  he,  nor  the  play,  were  ever  heard  of  afterwards  on  the  New 
York  boards;  "Natalie"  which  may  refer  to  a  ballet  of  this  name 
that  was  first  performed  at  the  Park  Theatre  in  1839  and"  Ambition" 
a  tragedy,  that  was  produced  as  a  new  play,  at  Burton's  Theatre,  in 
New  York,  in  1858,  two  years  after  Noah's  death. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH   AMERICA  12 1 

"but  to  his  own  imprudence  in  furnishing  each  of  the 
audience  with  a  printed  copy  of  the  play. 

In  1819  he  published  his  "travels."  He  had  been 
frequently  assailed  by  political  opponents  for  his  acts 
as  consul,  and  the  object  of  this  publication  was  not 
only  to  give  an  account  of  the  countries  he  had  visited, 
but  to  vindicate  his  official  acts  in  Tunis.  The  work 
was  well  written,  but  badly  arranged,  as  the  narrative 
was  given  continuously  without  any  division  into 
chapters  or  any  index,  and  his  consular  troubles  and 
difficulties  are  mixed  up  throughout  with  his  journeys 
and  observations  as  a  traveler.  It  contains  a  descrip 
tion  of  the  different  places  he  saw  in  England,  France, 
Spain  and  the  Barbary  States,  and  much  of  the  local 
history  of  the  various  cities  and  towns  that  he  visited  ; 
a  kind  of  information  that  it  was  more  difficult  then 
to  obtain  than  it  is  now.  Sixty  years  afterwards,  I 
went  over  the  same  ground  that  he  traversed  in 
Southern  France,  in  Spain  and  a  portion  of  North 
Africa,  a  part  of  the  world  that  has  since  undergone 
comparatively  little  change,  and  can  commend  the 
acuteness  of  his  observations,  his  general  accuracy  and. 
graphic  manner  of  describing  what  he  saw.  The  wo:k 
was  well  received,  as  it  contained  a  very  full  and  the 
best  account  that  we  then  had  of  the  Barbary  States, 
which  at  the  time  in  this  country  was  of  national 
interest,  in  consequence  of  our  recent  naval  wars  with 
Tripoli  and  Algiers. 

He  gives  in  it  a  very  full  account  of  the  Jews  in 
these  States,  of  whom  there  were  700,000,  about 
60,000  being  in  the  province  of  Tunis  and  from  20  to 
30,000  in  the  City  of  Tunis.  He  describes  them  as 
the  leading  men  in  Barbary;  that  they  were  at  the  head 
of  the  Custom  House,  that  they  farmed  the  revenue, 
that  they  had  secured  the  monopoly  of  various  kinds 
of  merchandise  and  of  the  exportation  of  different 


122  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

articles  ;  controlled  the  mint  and  regulated  the  coin 
age,  kept  the  Dey's  jewels  and  were  his  secretaries, 
treasurers  and  interpreters ;  that  they  were  the  prin 
cipal  mechanics  and  that  the  little  that  was  known 
there  of  arts,  sciences  and  medicine,  was  confined  to 
them  ;  that  many  of  them  possessed  immense  wealth 
and  many  were  poor  ;  that  the  idea  that  they  were 
oppressed,  was  in  a  great  measure  imaginary,  and  the 
general  account  that  he  gave  of  them,  especially  of 
those  of  Tunis,  was  not  very  complimentary.  The  fact 
which  he  states,  that  it  was  not  known  in  Tunis  that 
he  was  a  Jew,  although  it  was  said  that  there  were 
30,000  of  them  in  that  City,  would  indicate  that  he 
deemed  it  advisable  to  conceal  his  religion,  and  that 
Monroe  may  have  been  right  in  his  letter,  that  it 
would  be  on  obstacle  to  the  exercise  of  his  Consular 
functions  and  produce  an  unfavorable  effect. 

He  made  a  profitable  use  of  the  limited  period  that 
he  was  in  Tunis  in  the  study  of  antiquities  and  in 
archaeological  researches,  which  he  embodied  in  his 
book.  Among  other  things,  he  investigated  the  ruins 
of  the  Carthaginian  city  and  what  remained  of  a  long 
past  civilization  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  Tunis, 
and  thought  he  discovered  the  spot  where  the  battle 
of  Zama  was  fought,  which  resulted  in  the  defeat  of 
Hannibal  by  Scipio,  and  the  overthrow  of  Carthage. 
Upon  the  whole,  his  book  was  a  creditable  one,  and 
gave  him  a  reputation  both  as  a  scholar  and  as  an 
intelligent  traveler. 

In  the  ten  years  that  elapsed  after  the  publication 
of  this  book,  he  became  prominent  in  New  York  both  as 
an  editor  and  as  a  popular  dramatist  ;  and  George  P. 
Morris,  the  editor  of  one  of  the  earliest  of  our  literary 
journals  of  New  York,  has  given  his  recollections  of 
him  at  this  period.  He  says  that  he  was  then  a  great 
literary  and  political  lion  in  the  City  of  New  York  ; 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  1-3 

that  he  told  the  best  story,  rounded  the  best  sentence, 
and  wrote  the  best  play  of  all  his  contemporaries]; 
that  he  was  the  life  and  spirit  of  all  circles  ;  that  his 
wit  was  everywhere  repeated  and  that,  as  an  editor, 
critic  and  author,  he  was  looked  up  to  as  an  oracle. 

In  1820,  he  wrote  a  melodrama,  called  "Yusef  Car- 
matti  or,  The  Siege  of  Tripoli,"  which  was  pro 
duced  at  the  Park  Theatre,  for  the  benefit  of  Miss 
Johnson,  the  attractive  actress  before  referred  to- 
This  was  his  first  and  only  attempt  to  obtain  a  pecu 
niary  recompense  for  his  dramatic  productions,  and  on 
the  third  night  of  the  representation  of  this  play,  May 
25th,  1820,  it  was  given  for  his  benefit  to  a  crowded 
and  fashionable  house.  The  performance  was  con 
cluded  satisfactorily,  when,  immediately  after  the 
audience  left  the  house,  it  took  fire,  and  in  a  very 
short  time  the  theatre  was  burned  to  the  ground. 
Fortunately,  the  receipts  of  the  night  were  saved,  hav 
ing  been  taken  by  the  treasurer  to  his  own  house  be 
fore  the  fire  broke  out.  On  the  following  day  the 
amount  received,  over  two  thousand  dollars,  was  sent 
by  the  Manager  to  the  author,  and  Noah,  with  a  bene 
volence  that  was  characteristic  of  the  man  throughout 
his  life,  gave  the  whole  of  it  for  the  relief  of  the  indigent 
members  of  the  company,  who,  in  consequence  of  the 
calamity,  were  for  many  months  thrown  out  of 
employment.  This  act  of  generosity  was  highly  com 
mended  at  the  time  by  citizens  of  every  class,  as  it 
deserved  to  be,  and  especially  as  Noah  was  a  man  of 
but  limited  means,  editors  then  being  about  as  poorly 
paid  as  poets. 

When  the  Park  Theatre  was  rebuilt  in  1821,  Noah, 
as  his  contribution  to  the  new  edifice  and  to  honor  the 
annual  celebration  of  the  evacuation  of  the  City  of 
New  York  by  the  British  in  1783,  wrote  a  military 
play,  which  he  called,  "Marion  or  The  Hero  of 


124  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

Lake  George."  He  was  then  an  officer  of  the  New 
York  militia,  with  the  title,  by  which  he  was  always 
known  afterwards,  of  Major  Noah,  and  to  add  to  the 
eclat  of  the  military  drama  and  to  the  celebration  of 
the  anniversary,  he  exerted  himself  to  procure  a  large 
attendance  of  his  military  associates  in  uniform,  with 
a  result  that  may  be  described  in  his  own  words: 
"what  with  generals,  staff  officers,  rank  and  file,  the 
Park  Theatre  was  so  crammed,  that  not  a  word  of  the 
play  was  heard,  which  was  a  very  fortunate  affair  for 
the  author." 

In  1822  he  was  appointed  Sheriff  of  New  York,  an 
office  from  which,  during  the  short  time  he  held  it,  he 
derived  no  pecuniary  benefit,  as  he  gave  a  large  part 
of  the  proceeds  to  the  widow  of  his  predecessor  in  the 
office,  who  had  been  left  destitute,  and  the  residue 
and  more,  he  expended  for  the  relief  of  poor  debtors, 
who  as  sheriff,  he  had  in  custody,  imprisonment  for 
debt  then  being  allowed.  By  rhe  amended  Constitu 
tion  of  1821,  the  office  of  sheriff  was  made  elective, 
and  Noah  was  nominated  by  the  Tammany  party  for 
election.  Meanwhile  he  had  given  great  offence.  He 
had  applied  for  a  portion  of  the  state  printing  and 
failing  to  get  it,  made  an  unwarrantable  attack  upon 
some  of  the  most  respected  leaders  of  the  democratic 
party,  charging  them  with  the  want  of  good  faith, 
which  caused  such  indignation  that  a  formidable  op. 
position  was  organized  against  him,  and  in  one  of  the 
most  exciting  political  contests,  that  New  York  had 
previously  known,  he  was  defeated.  During  the  can 
vass  one  of  the  objections  urged,  was  a  Jew's  being 
put  in  an  office  where  he  would  have  the  right  to 
hang  a  Christian;  to  which  Noah  replied  in  his  point 
ed  way,  '  'that  it  was  a  pity  that  Christians  had  to  be 
hanged/' 

As  Monroe's  administration  drew    to   a  close,    the 


JEWS    IN    NORTH   AMERICA  125 

political  harmony  that  had  prevailed,  disappeared,  and 
four  candidates  were  brought  forward  for  the 
presidency.  John  Quincy  Adams,  his  Secretary 
of  State,  Win.  H.  Crawford,  his  Secretary  of  the 
Treasury,  Henry  Clay,  and  General  Andrew 
Jackson. 

The  Tammany  party,  or  the  Bucktails,  as  they  were 
then  called,  supported  Crawford  and  Noah  in  their  or 
gan,  the  National  Advocate,  denounced  the  Republi 
cans  who  did  not  support  Crawford,  as  traitors,  which 
was  meant  to  apply  to  the  Clintonian  party  who  sus 
tained  Jackson,  and  especially  to  Charles  King,  the 
editor  of  an  influential  republican  evening  paper  called 
The  American,  who  came  out  for  John  Quincy 
Adams,  the  personal  antagonism  of  the  two  editors, 
King  and  Noah,  being  one  of  the  political  features  of 
the  time.  General  Jackson  received  a  greater  num 
ber  of  votes  than  either  of  his  competitors,  but  lacking 
a  plurality,  the  election  devolved  upon  the  House  of 
Representatives  and  John  Quincy  Adams  was  elected 
President. 

King's  paper,  The  American,  became  consequently 
the  organ  in  the  City  of  New  York  of  the  new  Admin 
istration,  aa&tlLt  National  Advocate,  the  leading  jour 
nal  in  opposition.  After  the  War  with  Great  Britian, 
King,  who  had  been  sent  out  to  England  by  the 
President,  charged  with  certain  duties  respecting  the 
American  prisoners  at  Dartmouth,  had  done 
something  to  which  Noah  took  exception,  and  with 
this  cause  of  a  quarrel,  a  controversy  began  between 
them  which  lasted  for  many  years. 

On  the  part  of  King,  who  was  a  high  tempered  man 
and  vigorous  writer,  it  was  particularly  vindictive } 
whilst  on  the  part  of  Noah,  who  had  a  facile  pen,  it 
was  clever,  adroit,  and  most  effective  in  the  shape  of 
short  witty  sallies  and  humorous  retorts,  and  was  car- 


126  JEWS    IN    NORTH     AMERICA 

ried  on  throughout  in  such  a  vein  of  outward  pleas 
antry  and  inward  sarcasm,  as  to  be  exceedingly 
annoying  to  his  irate  antagonist. 

Many  of  his  crisp  and  amusing  paragraphs  in  this 
controversy  might  be  given,  but  one  will  suffice  to 
show  their  general  cleverness.  Madame  Brugere,  the 
wife  of  an  opulent  French  merchant  of  this  City,  had 
become  socially  distinguished  for  her  fine  manners, 
queenly  bearing  and  the  elegant  receptions  she  gave 
at  her  spacious  mansion  in  Broadway.  The  lady 
gave  a  fancy  ball,  that  is  said  to  have  been  the  first 
one  ever  given  in  America ;  which  Scovill,  in  his 
account  of  the  merchants  of  New  York,  says,  set 
everybody  crazy  in  the  city,  and  that  for  months 
every  one  spoke  in  raptures  of  the  great  fancy  ball. 
King,  who  was  a  man  of  social  position,  and  whom 
Noah  was  in  the  habit  of  calling  the  pink  of  society, 
was  invited  and  went  to  it.  The  ball  was  attended 
not  only  by  the  elite  of  New  York  society,  but  of 
Boston,  Philadelphia,  Albany  and  Baltimore.  Noah 
in  some  way  contrived  to  get  an  account  of  the  prin 
cipal  persons  who  were  present,  and  of  the  fancy 
dresses  they  wore,  that  he  published  in  his  paper,  in 
which  account  he  stated  that  King  went  to  the  ball 
in  the  dress  of  a  private  gentleman,  and  nobody 
knew  him  ;  that  he  changed  his  dress  three  times  in 
the  course  of  the  evening,  and  being  recognized  in 
his  last  disguise,  the  band  struck  up  "God  Save  the 
King." 

The  National  Advocate  was  not  what  is  called  a 
paying  paper,  and  as  Noah's  remuneration  was  small, 
and  as  he  did  not  agree  with  one  of  the  proprietors  as 
to  the  manner  in  which  the  paper  should  be  con 
ducted,  he  left  it  in  1826  and  established  a  daily 
Journal  of  his  own  which  he  called  by  the  same  name, 
the  National  Advocate.  This  he  was  enjoined  from 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  127 

doing  by  the  court,  when  he  changed  it  to  Noah1  s 
National  Advocate  and  this  being  also  enjoined,  he 
called  it  the  Enquirer,  which  he  continued  to  edit 
until  it  was  merged  in  1826  with  the  Morning 
Courier,  under  the  joined  name  of  the  Courier  and 
Enquirer. 

It  was  the  custom  then  both  of  the  English  and 
American  newspapers  to  discuss  the  questions  of  the 
day  in  what  are  called  leading  articles.  These  he 
seldom  wrote,  as  he  was  noticlever  in  argument ;  but 
generally  confined  himself  to  short,  pithy  paragraphs, 
seasoned  with  humor  and  pointed  by  wit,  which 
proved  quite  as  effectual  as  graver  essays. 

He  was  quite  a  master  of  sarcasm,  in  the  use  of 
which  however  he  was  rarely  malevoent  or  vindic 
tive,  but  employed  it  as  the  most  potent  means  for 
ridicule. 

In  1825,  Noah  turned  to  his  long  cherished  scheme 
of  the  restoration  of  the  Jews  to  their  past  glory  as  a 
nation.  Whilst  a  most  tolerant  and  liberal-minded 
man  in  respect  to  the  religious  belief  of  others,  he  was 
strongly  attached  to  his  own  people,  regarding  them 
as  a  race  apart,  originally  chosen  by  God  to  work  out 
a  sublime  faith,  who,  notwithstanding  all  they  had 
undergone,  were  increasing  in  number  and  had  a  great 
future  before  them.  He  not  only  believed  in  the  fvil- 
filment  of  the  prophecies,  that  they  would  come  to 
gether  again  as  a  nation,  but  that  the  time  in  the 
world's  history  for  the  beginning  of  the  movement 
had  arrived,  and  that  he,  under  Divine  inspiration, 
was  an  appointed  instrument  to  bring  it  about  ;  for 
among  all  the  successors  of  Israel  and  of  Jacob  that 
assembled  in  the  synagogue,  there  was  not  one  who 
was  a  more  sincere  believer  or  reverential  worshiper. 

For  this  purpose  he  acquired,  with  the  aid  of  some 
of  his  friends,  an  island  thirteen  miles  in  length  and 


128  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

about  five  miles  broad,  called  Grand  Island,  in  the 
Niagara  River,  which  divides  the  northwestern  part  of 
the  State  of  New  York  from  Canada  and  is  close  to 
Niagara  Falls.  Here  the  down-trodden  Israelites  from 
all  parts  of  the  world  were  to  be  brought  as  an 
"Asylum''  and  "City  of  Refuge,"  who  together  with 
the  North  American  Indians,  whom  he  believed  were 
the  descendants  of  the  Lost  Tribes  of  Israel,  were  to 
form  a  great  agricultural  and  industrial  community, 
which  was  to  be  the  beginning  of  the  restoration  of 
the  Jewish  people  as  a  nation,  under  the  coustitution 
and  liberal  government  of  the  United  States. 

That  the  American  Indian,  who  is  by  nature  a 
nomad,  and  the  Jew,  who  since  the  dispersion  of  his 
people,  even  when  free  to  do  so,  has  rarely  taken  to 
the  cultivation  of  land  as  a  means  of  livelihood,  could 
be  welded  together  in  a  self  supporting,  agricultural 
community,  was  an  idea  that  would  never  occur  to 
any  one  of  a  practical  mind;  but  upon  this  subject 
Noah  was  an  enthusiast;  and  like  many  enthusiasts, 
did  not  trouble  himself  by  looking  at  the  practical 
side  of  the  matter.  In  a  memorial  to  the  New  York 
Legislature  for  the  purchase  of  this  land,  he  represent 
ed,  that  if  the  Jews  in  Europe  were  assured  of  such 
an  "Asylum  of  Freedom"  as  he  proposed  to  create 
upon  Grand  Island,  they  would  emigrate  to  it  in  great 
numbers. 

Subsequently  he  was  not  so  confident  of  the  co 
operation  of  the  North  American  Indians.  Measures 
however,  were  to  be  adopted  to  make  them  sensible 
of  their  origin,  to  cultivate  their  minds,  soften  their 
nature  and  finally  reunite  them  with  their  brethren, 
the  chosen  people. 

This  restoration  of  Israel  as  a  nation,  in  and  under 
the  government  of  the  United  States,  however,  was 
not  to  be  final.  The  Jew,  he  declared,  would  never 


JEWS    IN   NORTH   AMERICA  I2g 

relinquish  the  hope  of  gaining  possession  again  of  his 
ancient  heritage  in  Syria,  and  that  the  founding  of 
this  Asylum  in  Grand  Island,  therefore,  was  merely 
"temporary  and  provisional." 

It  was,  however,  to  be  in  this  country,  a  gathering 
of  the  Jews  together  as  a  nation,  from  all  parts  of  the 
world,  and,  as  such,  it  required  a  directing  power  or 
head,  which  lie  considered  could  be  accomplished  by 
simply  re  establishing  the  patriarchal  form  of  govern 
ment  under  which  the  children  of  Israel  had  lived  in 
Palestine.  If  the  Jews  had  ever  in  their  patriarchal 
State  any  central  head  denoting  national  unity,  it  was 
not  the  high  priest,  but  was  in  their  fifteen  successive 
iudges,  until  the  functions  of  the  judges  were  vested 
by  the  people  in  a  King,  who  was  "to  judge  them" 
as  well  as  to  fight  their  battles.  The  term  King  how 
ever,  was  not  an  appropriate  one  to  designate  the 
head  of  an  organization  under  a  republican  form  of 
government,  and  Noah,  going  back  to  the  judges, 
adopted  the  title  of  Governor  and  Judge  of  Israel.  It 
was  not  exactly  known  how  the  judges  in  Israel  were 
appointed,  and  Noah  solved  the  difficulty  by  appoiut- 
inghimself  to  this  high  office,  and  as  the  self-appointed 
ruler,  for  this  purpose,  of  the  seven  millions  of  Jews 
throughout  the  world,  he  fixed  a  day,  the  I5th  Sep 
tember,  1825,  f°r  *ne  dedication  of  the  Asylum  upon 
Grand  Island,  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  there 
with  imposing  ceremonies  of  the  "City  of  Refuge," 
which  he  called  Ararat,  and  he  prepared  to  be  issued} 
as  of  that  date,  his  proclamation  to  the  Jews  through 
out  the  world. 

This  extraordinary  document,  his  proclamation,  is 
too  lengthy  to  be  inserted  here,  but  some  account  of  it 
is  essential  to  a  full  understanding  of  what  he  under 
took  and  expected  to  accomplish,  as  well  as  of  the 
character  of  the  man. 


130  JEWS   IN   NORTH   AMERICA 

It  began  stating  to  his  "beloved  brethren"  through 
out  the  world,  that,  whereas,  in  fulfilment  of  the  pro 
mise  made  to  the  race  of  Jacob,  they  are  to  be 
gathered  together  from  the  four  quarters  of  the  world 
and  to  resume  their  part  among  the  governments  of 
the  earth.  Therefore,  I,  Mordecai  M.  Noah,  citizen 
of  the  Uuited  States,  late  Consul  to  Tunis,  High 
Sheriffof  the  City  of  New  York  and  Counsellor-at-law, 
by  the  Grace  of  God  Governor  and  Judge  of  Israel, 
have  issued  this  proclamation.  The  document  sets 
forth  the  great  advantages  of  the  State  of  New  York, 
as  a  place  of  settlement  for  the  oppressed  and  down 
trodden  Jews  throughout  the  world,  the  fecundity  of 
its  soil  and  the  salubrity  of  its  climate,  and  especially 
of  the  attractions  of  Grand  Island  and  of  the  beauty 
of  its  situation  "where,"  he  said,  "they  can  till  the 
land,  reap  the  harvest,  raise  their  flocks  and  enjoy 
their  religion  with  peace  and  plenty"  and  these  allure 
ments  having  been  pointed  out,  the  document  proceeds 
as  follows  : 

"In  His  name,  who  brought  us  out  of  Egypt,  I 
revive,  renew  and  re-establish  the  government  of  the 
Jewish  nation,  and  enjoin  it  upon  all  Rabbis,  Elders 
of  Synagogues,  Chiefs  of  Colleges  and  all  of  the 
brethren  in  authority  throughout  the  world,  to  cir 
culate  this,  my  proclamation,  announcing  to  the  Jews 
that  an  Asylum  has  been  provided  for  them.  It  is  my 
will  that  a  census  of  the  Jews  be  taken  throughout  the 
globe,  and  the  returns  registered  in  the  Synagogues. 
Those  who  from  infirmity  or  any  other  cause  are  will 
ing  to  remain  where  they  are, "he  says,  "are allowed  to 
do  so,  but  are  to  encourage  the  emigration  of  the 
young  and  enterprising,  so  as  to  add  to  the  strength  of 
the  restored  nation."  He  commands  strict  neutrality 
in  the  war  between  the  Greeks  and  the  Turks,  which 
was  then  pending,  and  declares  that  those  who  are  in 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  13! 

military  employments  may  remain.  He  abolishes 
polygamy,  and  directs  that  all  prayers  are  to  be  read 
thereafter  in  Hebrew.  The  North  American  Indians, 
who,  the  document  says,  are  admitted  to  be  of  Asiatic 
origin,  and  in  all  probability  are  the  descendants  of 
the  lost  tribes  of  Israel,  are  called  upon  to  come  and 
unite  with  their  brethren,  as  the  chosen  people,  and 
in  the  tolerant  spirit  of  the  man, those  of  other  denom 
inations  are  also  allowed  to  come,  if  they  desire  to  do 
so.  He  then  imposes  a  tax  of  three  shekels,  or  one 
dollar  in  silver,  annually,  upon  every  Jew  throughout 
the  world,  to  procure  agricultural  implements  for,  and 
to  meet  other  expenses  of  the  new  settlement.  He 
appoints  by  name  a  number  of  commissioners,  in 
various  cities  in  Europe,  to  assist  in  carrying  out  his 
proclamation,  to  whom  proper  instructions  are  to  be 
transmitted  thereafter,  and  finally,  the  brethren  are 
asked  to  remember  him  in  their  prayers.  After  which 
the  document  closes  with  "By  the  Judge,  A.  B.  Seixas, 
Secretary  pro  tern,  "which  proclamation  was,  no  doubt, 
as  was  its  object,  largely  distributed  through  out  the 
world,  where  Jews  in  any  considerable  number  were 
settled. 

On  the  day  fixed  for  the  inauguration,  the  i5th  day 
of  September,  1825,  it  was  found  that  there  were  not 
boats  enough  in  Buffalo  to  carry  to  Grand  Island  all 
who  \vished  to  be  present,  and  the  celebration,  in  con. 
sequence,  took  place  in  Buffalo.  The  Jewish  standard 
was  displayed  from  a  flag-staff.  A  procession,  headed 
by  a  band  of  music,  was  formed,  composed  of  military 
companies  and  several  Masonic  bodies  in  full  regalia, 
after  which  came  Noah  as  Governor  and  Judge  of 
Israel  in  black,  wearing  a  judicial  robe  of.  crimson 
silk,  trimmed  with  ermine  and  with  a  richly  em 
bossed,  golden  medal  suspended  from  his  neck,  fol 
lowed  by  Masonic  officers  and  dignitaries,  who,  with 


J32  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

some  citizens,  closed  the  procession,  which  after 
marching  through  the  principal  streets  of  Buffalo, 
entered  the  Episcopal  Church,  the  band  playing  the 
Grand  March  from  Judas  Maccabeus,  and  placed  upon 
a  table  in  front  of  the  altar,  was  the  corner-stone  of 
the  anticipated  city,  with  this  inscription,  "Hear,  O 
Israel,  the  lyord  is  our  God.  Ararat,  the  Hebrew 
Refuge,  founded  by  Mordecai  M.  Noah  in  the  month 
of  Tishri,  corresponding  with  September  1825,  *n  tne 
50th  year  of  American  Independence."  A  prayer 
was  delivered  by  an  Episcopal  clergyman,  passages  or 
lessons  were  read  from  the  Old  Testament,  and  Noah, 
in  his  robe  as  Judge  and  Governor  of  Israel,  delivered 
an  oration  that  filled  more  than  five  columns  of  the 
large  sized  journals  of  that  day,  which  a  contemporary 
Buffalo  newspaper  declared  contained  details  of  the 
deepest  interest,  to  which  the  crowded  auditory 
listened  with  profound  attention.  These  details  con 
sisted  of  an  account  of  the  Jews  in  the  various  coun 
tries  in  which  they  had  settled  and  an  exposition  of  his 
scheme  for  their  restoration  as  a  nation,  which  I  have 
already  substantially  given, and  the  exercises  closed  by 
the  choir  singing,  "Before  Jehovah's  Awful  Throne. " 

Afterwards  a  salvo  of  24  guns  was  fired  and  a  mon 
ument  of  brick  and  wood  was  erected  upon  the  Island, 
on  the  site  of  the  contemplated  city,  with  the  inscrip 
tion,  "  Ararat,  a  City  of  Refuge  for  the  Jews,  founded 
by  Mordecai  M.  Noah  in  the  5oth  year  of  American 
Independence. 

The  celebration  in  Buffalo  was  the  beginning  and 
the  end  of  the  scheme.  The  European  Rabbis  refused 
to  sanction  it.  The  proclamation  was  not  responded 
to.  The  monument  of  brick  and  wood,  like  the  pro 
ject  itself,  fell  to  pieces,  and  in  the  course  of  years 
wholly  disappeared. 

General   Jackson,  in  recognition  of  Noah's  political 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  133 

services,  appointed  him  in  1829  Surveyor  of  the  Port 
of  New  York.  The  Senate  by  a  close  vote  rejected 
the  nomination,  but,  upon  Jackson's  representation 
that  some  of  the  Senators  who  had  voted  against  it 
had  been  misinformed  as  to  certain  facts,  it  was 
reconsidered,  and  after  a  severe  contest,  in  which  the 
Senate  was  equally  divided,  the  nomination  was  con- 
firmed  by  the  casting  vote  of  Vice  President  Van 
Buren. 

He  held  this  office  until  1833,  when  he  resigned  it. 
His  resignation  was  attributed  by  his  political  oppo 
nents  to  General  Jackson's  refusing  to  appoint  him  to 
the  more  lucrative  office  of  Collector  of  the  Port  of 
New  York.  Whether  this  was  true  or  not,  he  was 
from  that  time  an  active  opponent  of  Jackson's  admin 
istration.  The  Courier  and  Enquirer,  under  the  joint 
proprietorship  of  Webb  and  Noah,  had  supported  Gen 
eral  Jackson  for  the  presidency,  and  his  administration 
during  his  first  term.  But  Jackson,  having  followed 
up  his  veto  of  the  charter  of  the  United  States  in  1832, 
by  his  removal  of  the  deposits  of  the  bank  in  1833, 
after  his  re-election,  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  came 
out  against  him  and  became  an  organ  of  what  was 
known  for  many  years  thereafter  as  the  "Whig  Party." 
This  change  was  alleged  by  Jackson's  supporters  to 
have  been  brought  about  by  a  loan  or  gift  to  Col. 
Webb  on  the  part  of  the  bank  of  $50,000  to  secure  the 
influence  of  the  paper  in  its  favor.  There  was  some 
grounds  for  the  belief  that  the  bank  made  unwarrant 
able  use  of  its  funds  to  secure  political  influence,  and 
especially  that  of  leading  newspapers,  and  on  an  invest 
igation  by  a  committee  of  Congress,  a  promissory  note 
made  by  Noah  was  found  amongst  the  assets.  Noah, 
in  his  testimony  before  the  committee,  stated  that  the 
money  for  which  the  note  was  given,  was  received 
from  a  private  individual  as  a  loan  pressed  upon  him 


134  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

of  unemployed  funds,  which  was  probably  true;  for  no 
one,  so  far  as  I  know,  ever  accused  him  of  personal 
dishonesty;  being  a  man,  who  in  money  matter,  was 
always  more  ready  to  give  than  to  take.  In  all  prob 
ability,  however,  the  note  was  brought  to  the  bank 
by  some  one  into  whose  possession  it  had  passed,  and 
the  bank  gave  the  money  upon  it  to  get  Noah's  in 
fluence,  or  to  silence  his  opposition.  He  expressed  to 
the  committee  his  surprise,  as  he  said,  "to  find  his 
note  turn  up  among  the  assets  of  the  bauk,"  and  after 
this  transaction,  he  withdrew  from  all  further  connec 
tion  with  the  Courier  and  Enquirer  and  sold  out  his 
share  of  that  paper  to  his  co-proprietor,  Col.  Webb. 

There  \vas  perhaps  another  explanation  of  Noah's 
coming  out  at  the  time  against  the  administration. 
Jackson's  removal  of  the  deposits  of  the  government 
from  the  United  States  Bank  and  depositing  them  in 
the  state,  or  as  they  were  called,  "pet"  banks,  created 
a  great  sensation  throughout  the  country,  especially 
in  all  commercial  circles,  and  particularly  in  the  City 
of  New  York.  There  was  the  attraction,  therefore, 
to  a  politician  like  Noah,  of  the  formation  of  a  power 
ful  political  party  in  opposition  to  the  administration, 
which  the  ''Whig"  party  rapidly  became,  to  the 
building  up  of  which  he  could  largely  contribute  by  the 
establishment  of  a  journal  of  his  own,  and  also  accom 
plish  another  purpose.  Van  Buren  was  recognized 
not  only  by  Jackson  himself,  but  by  the  bulk  of  the 
democratic  party,  as  the  one  who  was  to  be  supported 
as  Jackson's  successor  in  the  presidency,  and  Noah, 
at  this  time,  was  at  enmity  with  Van  Buren,  to  defeat 
whose  aspirations  was  to  him  then  a  desirable  politi 
cal  object.  Although  he  owed  to  Van  Buren's  vote 
his  office  of  Surveyor,  Mr.  Van  Buren  afterwards  pre 
vented  him  from  getting  the  office  of  State  Printer, 
which  was  then,  as  it  has  been  ever  since,  a  political 


JEWS    IN    NORTH   AMERICA  135 

gift.  Van  Buren's  influence  secured  it  for  Edwin 
Croswell,  a  member  of  a  political  junta,  called  the 
"Albany  Regency,"  that  had  then  the  control  of  the 
democratic  party  of  New  York,  and  after  this  coutest 
for  the  office  of  State  Printer,  an  animosity  arose  be 
tween  Noah  and  Van  Buren  that  continued  as  long 
as  both  were  living. 

Upon  leaving  the  Courier  and  Enquirer,  Noah,  in 
connection  with  Thomas  Gill,  who  had  been  the 
business  manager  of  the  Evening  Post,  started  a  new 
paper,  called  the  Evening  Star,  which  was  devoted  to 
the  '"Whig"  party.  New  York  at  that  time  scarcely 
admitted  of  three  evening  journals,  but  through  the 
skilful  business  management  of  Noah's  partner,  Gill 
the  paper  was  successful.  What  Noah  foresaw,  the 
ultimate  triumph  of  the  "Whig"  party,  came  about, 
but  not  in  time  to  prevent  Mr.  Van  Buren's  succeeding 
to  the  presidency.  Aiter>  it  accomplished  its  purpose 
by  the  election  of  General  Harrison  as  President  in 
1840.  Noah's  partner,  Mr.  Gill,  died,  and  from  the 
want  of  his  efficient  services,  the  circulation  of  the 
paper  fell  off;  Noah  sold  it  to  one  of  his  evening  rivals, 
the  Commercial  Advertiser,  and  Governor  Seward 
appointed  him  in  1841  an  Associate  Judge  of  the  New 
York  Court  of  Sessions.  This  was  an  office  he  was 
qualified  to  fill.  He  had  to  some  extent  studied  law 
in  Charleston  and  a  general  knowledge  of  the  commer 
cial  law  was  not  difficult  to  master.  The  office  of  a  crim 
inal  judge,  moreover,  is  one  that  requires  in  a  greater 
degree  than  any  other  judicial  station,  the  tempering 
of  justice  with  mercy,  and  whilst  Noah  was  an  exper 
ienced  man  of  the  world,  he  was  at  the  same  time  at 
heart  one  of  the  kindest  and  most  benevolent  of 
men. 

He  had  no  sooner,  however,  commenced   the  dis 
charge  of  his  judicial  duties  than  Bennett,in  the  New 


136  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

York  Herald,  began  to  assail  and  ridicule  him. 
Scarcely  a  day  passed,  without  some  short  article  in 
which  he  was  generally  referred  to,  not  by  name,  but 
by  an  abbreviated  slang  phrase,  implying  a  dealer  in 
second-hand  clothing.  His  proceedings  in  court  were 
misrepresented,  his  decisions  caricatured  and  his 
religion  frequently  referred  to,  as  if  it  were  a  matter  of 
reproach.  This  course  on  the  part  of  Bennett  was 
the  more  remarkable,  as  it  is  said  that  Noah  loaned 
Bennett  the  capital,  $100,  with  which  he  started  the 
Herald  as  a  small  sheet,  Bennett  being  then  employed 
on  the  Courier  and  Enquirer,  and  that  it  was  20 
years  before  the  loan  was  repaid.  Noah  himself  made 
no  complaint,  but  one  of  the  jurors,  attending  the 
Court,  was  so  indignant  at  this  unjust  aspersion  of 
him  from  day  to  day,  that  upon  his  own  motion  he 
instituted  criminal  proceedings  and  Bennett  was 
indicted  for  libel.  When  the  case  came  on  for  trial 
in  the  Court  of  Oyer  and  Terminer,  before  Judge 
Nathan  Kent,  Noah  appeared,  and  a  scene  occurred 
that  was  quite  characteristic  of  the  man.  When  the 
case  was  called,  he  rose,  and  addressing  the  court 
said  that  the  attack  upon  him,  by  Bennett  in  the 
Herald,  was  the  continuation  of  an  old  editorial 
quarrel,  in  which  he  had  been  to  a  considerable 
degree  the  aggressor  and  that  so  far  as  he  was  con 
cerned,  he  was  willing  that  the  prosecution  should 
be  dropped.  But  the  Judge  would  not  consent  He 
directed  the  trial  to  proceed  and  there  being  no 
defence,  the  jury  found  a  verdict  of  guilty. 

On  the  day  fixed  for  the  sentence  I  was  in  Court, 
and  remember  that  the  Judge,  with  much  dignity  and 
in  an  impressive  manner,  stated  that  the  printing  in 
a  public  journal,  from  day  to  day,  of  such  grossly, 
abusive  articles, in  respect  to  a  Judge  who  was  engaged 
in  the  discharge  of  public  duties,  was  not  merely  an 


JEWS    IN   NORTH    AMERICA  137 

offence  against  him,  but  one  the  tendency  of  which 
was  to  bring  into  disrepute  the  administration  of  the 
criminal  law,  and,  which,  in  his  opinion,  should  be 
punished  by  imprisonment,  and  that  if  it  were  in  his 
power  he  would  sentence  Bennett  to  the  penitentiary 
for  the  longest  period  the  law  allowed;  but  he  had 
been,  he  said,  overruled  by  his  associates,  the  two 
aldermen  sitting  with  him,  and  would  pronounce, 
not  his  own,  but  their  sentence, which  was  a  pecuniary 
fine  of  a  comparatively  small  amount. 

Noah  did  not  continue  in  this  judicial  office  very 
long;  after  leaving  it,  he  started  a  weekly  journal  in 
support  of  Tyler's  Administration  called  the  Union, 
that  lasted  about  a  year.  He  then  became,  and  was 
for  a  considerable  time,  the  editor  of  the  New  York 
Sun.  During  his  connection  with  the  Sun  he  edited 
a  paper,  subsequently  known  as  the  Times  and  Week 
ly  Messenger ;  that  he  continued  to  be  the  editor  of 
for  the  rest  of  his  life,  and  under  the  title  of  Noafts 
Times  and  Weekly  Messenger,  it  is  still  published, 
being  now  in  its  fifty-third  year. 

In  1840,  he  published  a  translation  of  the  Book  of 
Jasher,  and  before  it  wrote  essays  on  Domestic  Econ 
omy,  which  appeared  in  one  of  the  newspapers  he  edit 
ed.  In  1842,  he  was  elected  President  of  the  Hebrew 
Benevolent  Society,  the  institution  in  commemoration 
of  whose  5oth  anniversary  my  address  was  delivered, 
and  continued  to  be  its  President  until  his  death.  In 
i846,he  delivered  an  address  which  he  afterwards  pub 
lished,  to  show  that  the  American  Indians  were  the 
descendants  of  the  lost  tribes  of  Israel.  In  this  pro 
duction  he  brought  together  a  large  amount  of  mate 
rial,  to  prove  the  resemblance  between  them  and  the 
Jews  in  visage,  customs,  traditions  and  religious  belief, 
much  of  which  however,  had  been  collected  by  earlier 
American  writers,  Adair,Boudinot,  Ethan  Smith  and 


138  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

Priest,  in  support  of  the  same  theory.  Noah  gave  as 
his  reason  for  this  address,  that  previous  writers 
upon  the  same  subject,  of  whom,  however,  he  names 
but  one,  Adair,  though  thoroughly  informed  respect 
ing  the  rites,  ceremonies,  usages  and  belief  of  the 
North  American  Indians  were  not  well  acquainted 
with  those  of  the  Israelites,  in  which  I  think  he 
undervalued  the  extent  of  the  knowledge  of  some  of 
his  predecessors.  The  facts  so  brought  together,  he 
deemed  convincing;  but  he  was  neither  an  ethnologist 
nor  an  anthropologist.  Fifty  years  ago,  even  the 
first  of  these  sciences,  had  made  but  little  progress, 
and  he  did  not  know  that  distinction  of  races,  or 
racial  connection,  is  established  by  tests  of  a  very 
different  kind  from  those  that  he  thought  so  con 
clusive.  Iii  1845, he  published  what  he  called  "Glean 
ings  from  a  Gathered  Harvest,"  which  was  made  up 
of  things  he  had  written,  and  in  the  same  year  a 
monograph  on  the  Restoration  of  the  Jews. 

Hammond,  in  his  Political  History  of  New  York, 
has  given  his  character.  After  remarking  that  much 
had  been  said  and  alleged  against  him,  which  he> 
Hammond,  considered  ill  founded  and  undeserved,  he 
added  that  his  political,  or  rather,  his  party  principles 
sat  rather  loosely,too  loosely, upon  him ;  but  that  he  was 
frank,  open,  unreserved,  generous  and  kind  in  his  na 
ture, and  that  his  talents  as  a  writer,especially  as  a  wit, 
were  of  a  high  order.  He  died  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  on  the  22nd  of  March,  1851,  in  the  66th  year  of 
his  age,  and  while  obituary  notices  of  him,  and  some 
of  them  quite  lengthy,  appeared  in  the  other  daily 
journals,  the  New  York  Herald,  though  containing 
editorial  obituaries  of  less  important  personages,  Iii 
not  even  notice  the  fact  of  his  death. 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  139 

SAMUEL  B.  H.  JUDAH. 

Another  Jewish  dramatist  and  writer  was  Samuel 
B.  H.  Judah.  He  was  born  in  New  York  in  1799,  and 
was  of  an  old  colonial  Jewish  family  that  had  settled 
in  this  city  as  early  as  1725,  and  probably  before  it. 
His  father,  Benjamin  S.  Judah,  after  the  close  of  the 
American  Revolution,  became  one  of  the  most  prom 
inent  of  the  merchants  of  New  York ;  a  man  greatly 
respected  for  his  probity  and  valued  for  his  enterprise 
and  business  abilities.  He  was  one  of  the  founders  in 
1786,  of  the  New  York  Tontine,  and  in  business  cor 
porations  and  in  other  institutions,  held  positions  of 
trust  and  confidence.  When  the  war  broke  out  with 
Great  Britain  in  1812,  he  was  a  wealthy  man,  carrying 
on  an  extensive  business  with  the  West  Indies,  which 
was  suddenly  brought  to  end  by  the  imposition  of  the 
embargo.  As  nearly  everything  he  possessed  was 
invested  in  a  very  profitable  maritime  commerce,  the 
cessation  by  the  embargo  of  all  commercial  intercourse 
by  sea,  came  upon  him  so  unexpectedly  that  he  was 
unable  to  meet  his  engagements,  was  compelled  to 
fail,  and  like  many  of  the  leading  merchants  of  New 
York  at  that  time,  he  was  irretrievably  ruined, 
for  although  he  lived  for  many  years  thereafter, 
he  never  recovered  from  this  overwhelming  disaster. 

In  consequence,  as  I  suppose,  of  the  limited  resour 
ces  of  his  parents,  yotiug  Judah  had  not  the  benefit  of 
a  collegiate  education,  but  he  acquired  at  one  of  the 
schools  of  the  city,  some  knowledge  of  the  classical 
languages,  and  was  taught  French  by  a  well-known 
teacher  of  the  time,  named  Boeuf. 

As  a  young  man,  he  had  literary  aspirations,  which 
were  directed  towards  the  Theatre,  and  in  1820  he 
wrote  a  melodrama,  entitled  "The  Mountain  Torrent," 
which  was  produced  that  year,  at  the  Park  Theatre, 
with  fair  success.  In  1822,  he  wrote  another  melo- 


14°  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

drama,  "The  Rose  of  Arragon,"  that  was  acted  at  the 
same  theatre,  and  was  much  more  successful.  This 
was  followed  by  another  play,  "The  Tale  of  Lexing 
ton,"  and  in  1823  a  benefit  was  given  to  him  at  the 
Park  Theatre,  at  which  the  two  latter  plays  were  acted. 
I  know  nothing  further  of  his  efforts  as  a  dramatist, 
and  presume  that  he  had  not  become  sufficiently  suc 
cessful  as  a  playwright  to  induce  the  managers  of  the 
Park  Theatre  to  bring  out  any  more  of  his  productions, 
as  in  a  publication  of  that  year,  he  complains  of  Man 
ager  Simpson's  want  of  education,  as  an  explanation 
of  his  inability  to  appreciate  his,  Judah's  merits. 

The  publication  referred  to,  which  appeared  in  1823, 
was  entitled  "Gotham  and  the  Gothamites,a  Medley." 
It  was  a  versified  production  assailing  over  a  hundred 
persons,  who  were  then  more  or  less  prominent  in  the 
City  of  New  York,  assuming  to  be  written  in  the 
interest  of  virtue  and  moralit)',  but  which  from  the 
motive  that  led  him  to  write  it,  and  the  means  he 
employed  to  bring  it  into  notice,  is  almost  without  a 
parallel  in  the  history  of  defamatory  literature.  The 
satirical  productions  of  Churchill  and  of  Dr.  Wolcott, 
better  known  as  Peter  Pindar,  were  then  read  more 
than  they  are  now.  They  were  popular,  and  it  was 
doubtless  from  an  ambition  to  achieve  the  kind  of  dis 
tinction  these  writers  had  attained,  that  led  him  to 
conceive  that  a  production  in  verse,  grossly  calumni 
ating  every  one  in  New  York  who  was  at  all  promin 
ent,  would  biing  him  into  great  notoriety. 

But  Churchill  and  Wolcott  had,  what  he  had  not, 
the  literary  merit  that  is  shown  in  the  telling  couplets 
and  biting  satire  of  the  former,  and  the  exquisite 
humor  and  felicitous  versification  of  the  latter;  in  ad 
dition  to  which,  the  first  of  these  clever  satirists  in 
verse  had  the  redeeming  quality,  that  he  could  praise 
as  heartily  as  he  could  censure. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  14! 

To  their  eminence,  vain  as  he  was,  Judah  could 
scarcely  hope  to  attain;  but  there  was  another  model 
that  pointed  out  to  him  a  way  by  which  he  could  do 
in  prose,  what  he  had  not  the  ability  to  accomplish  in 
verse.  A  few  years  previously,  in  1819,  Gulian  C. 
Verplanck,  published  a  political  satire,  commonly 
known  as  "The  Bucktail  Bards,"  under  the  nom  de 
plume  of  Major  Pindar  Puff.  This  was  a  satire  in 
easy  flowing  verse,  directed  against  prominent  persons 
in  the  political  party,  then  known  as  the  Clintonians, 
and  their  distinguished  leader,  DeWitt  Clinton,  who 
were  satirized  by  ludicrously  exalting  them  and  by 
ridiculing  under  the  form  of  affected  praise  the  pre 
tensions  of  Clinton  to  scientific  knowledge  and  great 
literary  attainment.  Unlike  Judah's  productions 
however,  there  was  nothing  malevolent  or  vindictive 
about  it, nor  anything  in  the  iorm  of  scurrility,  or  per> 
sonal  abuse.  As  a  distinguishing  feature,  it  had  at 
the  end  of  each  epistle,  copious  notes,  and  as  Mr 
Verplauck  was  a  man  of  learning  and  of  some  humor, 
these  notes  added  much  to  the  effect  of  the  verse;  and 
it  was  this  method  of  Mr.  Verplanck's  in  the  form  of 
notes,  that  Judah  followed,  as  a  more  effectual  means, 
by  which  he  could  abuse  and  slander  the  persons  he 
attacked. 

The  poem  was  devoid  of  literary  merit.  He  had 
very  little  knowledge  of  metre  and  lacked  an  ear  for 
distinguishing  rhyme.  It  was  consequently  marked 
by  halting  verses  and  imperfect  couplets.  There  was 
a  mawkish  sentimentality  in  many  passages  that  he 
conceived  to  be  poetry,  in  which  moonshine  and  the 
adjuncts  of  the  theatre,  were  substituted  for  nature, 
and  there  was  an  effected  assumption  of  morality  and 
virtue,  that  was  as  false  as  it  was  meretricious. 

I  have  said,  that  nearly  everyone  that  was  then 
prominent  in  New  York,  was  referred  to  and  slandered ; 


142  JEWS    IN    NORTH   AMERICA 

public  officials,  politicians,  merchants  of  the  highest 
integrity,  eminent  lawyers,  editors,  clergymen,  book 
sellers  and  publishers,  literary  men,  professors  in  col 
leges,  actors,  theatrical  managers,  prominent  military 
men,  scholars  and  artists.  No  one  was  omitted,  the 
attack  upon  whom  he  supposed  would  create  a  sensa 
tion.  They  were  not  referred  to  by  name,  but  the 
first  letters  of  the  Christian  and  surname  were  given, 
and  the  omitted  letters  in  each  were  indicated  by 
asterisks  or  stars,  so  that  it  was  easy  for  any  one  then 
familiar  with  the  prominent  people  in  New  York  to 
know  who  was  meant,  and,  after  a  lapse  of  seventy 
years,  I  have  been  able,  out  of  the  one  hundred  and 
three  persons  referred  to,  to  identify  ninety-eight. 

As  the  great  bulk  of  the  personages  mentioned  were 
people  of  character  and  blameless  lives,  there  could  be 
no  motive  for  dragging  them  before  the  public,  and 
calumniating  them,  except  the  one  that  has  been  sug 
gested.  As  to  some  of  the  others,  he  appears  to  have 
had  an  antipathy, or  a  feeling  of  personal  enmity,  which 
was  especially  the  case  toward  his  coreligionist, Noah, 
and  what  he  published  respecting  him  will  suffice  to 
show  the  vituperative  character  of  the  production. 
He  is  generally  referred  to  as  "this  fellow,''  l'A  writer 
ofl^insy  Woolsy  Paragraphs  and  Still -Born  Lumps 
of  Stupidity."  *  "  A  pertinacious  scribbler 

of  insipid  garbage. "  *  *  *  "A  smirking  s  wriggling, 
smiling  thing  who  says  his  plays  were  not  all  hissed, 
which  was  because  his  audiences  were  unable  to  hiss 
and  could  only  gape.  *  *  *  Who  damns  the  worth 
he  cannot  equal  and  never  blushes  except  when,  un 
awares,  he  stumbles  upon  a  truth." 

Immediately  upon  the  publication  of  the  book  he 
caused  handbills  to  be  posted  up  throughout  the  city, 
offering  a  reward  for  the  discovery  of  the  author,  and 
wrote  anonymous  letters  to  a  considerable  number  of 


JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA  143 

persons  he  had  mentioned  in  it,  which,  save  in  the  adap 
tation  of  each  letter  to  the  particular  person  addressed, 
informed  them  generally  that  the  work  had  appeared ;  ol 
the  large  sale  of  copies  of  it  on  the  second  day  of  its  pub 
lication, which  was  untrue,  and  earnestly  advising  them 
to  take  immediate  measures  through  the  newspapers, 
or  otherwise,  to  vindicate  their  characters  from  the 
unjust  aspersions  cast  upon  them.  One  of  these  let 
ters  was  sent  to  Col.  W.  L.  Stone,  the  editor  of  the 
Commercial  Advertiser,  who,  upon  reading  it,  was 
struck  with  its  resemblance  to  a  communication  that  a 
short  time  before  had  been  sent  to  him  for  insertion 
in  his  paper.  It  was  a  literary  review  of  the  seven 
leading  authors  of  America,  and  as  Judah's  name  was 
the  third  or  fourth  on  the  list,  the  experienced  editor 
came  to  the  conclusion  that  a  review  placing  Judah 
in  so  eminent  a  position  and  prophesying  that  from 
the  talent  he  had  already  displayed,  how  much  might 
be  expected  from  him  in  the  future,  could  have  been 
written  by  nobody  but  Judah  himself,  and  Colonel 
Stone  laid  it  aside  not  intending  to  publish  it.  Upon 
comparing  this  article  with  the  letter  he  had  re 
ceived,  he  found  that  both  were  in  the  same  hand 
writing,  and  purchasing  a  copy  of  the  book,  he,  with 
this  proof,  went  before  the  Grand  Jury  and  had  the 
author  and  publisher  indicted  for  libel.  The  arrest 
of  both  a  few  days  after  the  publication  put  a  stop  to 
any  further  circulation  of  the  book,  and  the  publicity 
of  the  criminal  proceedings  brought  to  light  a  number 
of  the  like  kind  of  letters  which  Judah  had  written, 
all  being  in  the  same  handwriting,  which  were  given 
up  to  the  public  authorities. 

The  publisher  made  no  defence,  but  Judah  em 
ployed  counsel  and  under  the  pretense  of  absent  wit 
nesses  that  he  required  to  prove  a  justification,  or  a 
matter  in  mitigation,  he  got  the  trial  put  off  for 


144  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

several  terms,  until  at  last,  Hugh  Maxwell,  the  dis 
trict  attorney,  who  was  an  energetic  officer,  brought 
the  cause  peremptorily  to  trial,  when,  there  being  no 
defence,  a  verdict  of  guilty  was  rendered,  and  a  sub 
stantial  fine  was  imposed,  which  Judah  being  unable 
to  pay,  he  was  sent  to  prison. 

He  had  some  pulmonary  affection  which,  being 
augmented  by  his  imprisonment  and  the  great 
heat  of  the  weather,— it  was  in  the  month  of  August, 
—brought  on  a  severe  attack  of  illness,  and  as  the 
physician  of  the  prison  certified  that  he  would  not 
probably  recover  unless  he  was  released,  the  Governor 
granted  him  a  pardon  and  he  was  discharged.  A  few 
years  afterwards  he  became  a  lawyer.  How  the 
author  of  such  a  production  as  "  Gotham  and  the 
Gothamites"  succeeded  in  getting  any  respectable 
lawyer  to  certify  that  he  was  a  man  of  good  moral 
character,  which  was  indispensable  to  an  admission  to 
the  Bar,  I  do  not  know,  but  he  certainly  obtained 
such  a  certificate,  as  he  was  admitted  an  attorney  and 
counsellor  of  the  Supreme  Court,  and  was  for  many 
years  a  practitioner. 

He  was  not  unfrequently  before  me  in  my  earlier 
years  upon  the  bench,  and  exhibited  no  ability  as  an 
advocate.  He  had  the  habit  not  uncommon  at  that 
period  with  some  New  Yorkers,  of  substituting  the 
'w''  for  "  v,"  such  as  "  If  the  gentleman  will  wouch 
for  it  on  his  veracity, etc,"  and  this  peculiar  pronun 
ciation  together  with  the  uuattractiveness  of  his  per 
sonal  appearance,  and  his  lack  of  ability  for  construct, 
ing  a  speech,  made  an  unfavorable  impression  upon 
jurors,  of  which,  from  his  earnestness,  he  appeared  to 
be  wholly  unconscious. 

As  an  attorney,  a  gentleman  who  had  much  to  do 
with  him  in  the  transaction  of  business,  described 
him  to  me  as  acute,  cunning,  technical,  and  not  very 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  145 

reliable;  notwithstanding  which  he  was  able  to  obtain 
what,  in  those  days  when  imprisonment  for  debt  was 
allowed,  was  called  a  collecting  business,  by  which  he 
was  able  to  secure  an  ample  competency, on  which  he 
lived  for  the  rest  of  his  life. 

He  published  a  work  of  fiction  which  was  not  of  any 
particular  merit,  the  scenes  of  which  were  laid  in  the 
earlier  part  of  the  Colonial  history  of  New  York,  the 
name  of  which  I  cannot  now  recall.  In  his  last  years 
he  was  a  great  sufferer  from  some  chronic  disease,  and 
died  in  the  City  of  New  York  about  the  time,  I  think, 
or  shortly  before  the  breaking  out  of  the  civil  war. 

JONAS  B.  PHILLIPS. 

This  continuation  has  extended  so  far  beyond  what 
I  expected,  that  I  will  close  it  with  an  account  of 
another  Jewish  dramatist  of  New  York.  This  was 
Jonas  B.  Phillips,  who  first  appears  in  connection  with 
the  drama  in  1833,  as  tne  author  of  a  spirited  epilogue 
written  for  the  benefit  of  A.  A.  Adams,  a  tragedian  of 
great  merit,  who  appeared  that  night  in  John  Howard 
Payne's  tragedy  of  u  Oswald  of  Athens,"  at  the  close 
of  which  Mrs.  Hughes  delivered  Phillip's  epilogue, 
with  great  effect. 

In  1838,  he  produced  a  melodrama  called  "  Cold 
Stricken,"  and  though  it  had  the  attraction  of  Mrs. 
Barnes  and  Judah,  the  versatile  actor  before  referred 
to,  it  was  not  very  successful,  but  was  appreciated  by 
the  managers,  who  gave  the  author  a  benefit. 

He  afterwards  wrote  a  play  called  "  Camillus,"  and 
a  drama,  "The  Evil  Eye,"  which  was  produced  at 
the  Bowery  Theatre  in  New  York  with  great  effect, 
and  had  what  is  called  a  run. 

He  had,  I  think,  some  position  in  connection  with 
the  business  management  of  this  theatre,  and  pro 
duced  other  dramas  there.  These  were  of  a  spectacu- 


146  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

lar  kind,  in  which  as  a  playwright  he  was  very  suc 
cessful.  He  was  much  esteemed  among  the  theatrical 
people  with  whom  he  was  associated,  and  in  1835  a 
complimentary  benefit  was  given  to  him  in  that 
theatre,  when  several  prominent  actors  and  actresses 
and  distinguished  musical  artists  appeared  and  made  it 
a  success.  After  this,  he  withdrew  from  all  connection 
with  the  theatre,  studied  law,  and  in  the  course  of 
years  became  Assistant  District  Attorney  for  the  City 
of  New  York. 

It  came  within  my  judicial  duties  to  preside  fre 
quently  in  the  Court  of  Sessions  in  the  absence  of  the 
Recorder,  so  that  I  saw  much  of  Phillips,  who  was  an 
honest,  a  most  industrious  and  an  efficient  public 
officer,  for  whom  I  felt  a  personal  regard.  He  filled 
this  office  during  the  term  of  several  district  attorneys, 
and  died  in  the  City  of  New  York  about  fifteen  years 
ago. 

Having  mentioned  the  Court  of  Sessions,  I  may 
appropriately  refer  to  another  officer  of  that  Court,  of 
the  Jewish  persuasion,  Jacob  Hays,  the  High  Con 
stable,  who  as  the  head  of  the  constabulary  force  of 
the  City  of  New  York  for  nearly  half  a  century,  had 
an  influence  and  control  over  the  criminal  classes, 
like  that  exercised  by  Townsend,  the  celebrated  Bow 
Street  officer,  for  so  many  years  in  London.  Hays  was 
a  short,  stout,  thick-set  man  of  unswerving  honesty, 
untiring  energy  and  indomitable  courage.  Scovill 
refers  to  him  as  the  most  remarkable  man  that  New- 
York  ever  produced,  and  certainly  within  his  own 
sphere  of  activity  that  city  has  never  had  one  like  him, 
before  or  since.  The  criminal  classes  both  feared  and 
respected  him,  which  they  well  might,  for  he  was  the 
very  embodiment  of  that  fine  characteristic — a  high 
sense  of  duty,  and  the  name  which  they  gave  him  of 
"Old  Hays "  was  for  years  a  "  terror  to  evil-doers." 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  147 

The  act  re-organizing  the  police  force  of  New  York 
dispensed  with  the  office  of  High  Constable,  with  this 
reservation,  however,  that  in  view  of  his  long  and 
faithful  services,  he  was  allowed  to  retain  both  the 
title  and  emoluments  of  the  office  for  the  rest  of  his 
life.  The  only  duty  under  the  act  that  was  left  to 
him,  was  to  sit  in  his  wonted  place  in  the  Court  of 
Sessions,  below  the  Judge,  during  the  sitting  of  the 
Court,  which  he  discharged  with  unfailing  regularity 
up  to  an  advanced  age;  an  interesting  and  picturesque 
figure,  with  his  bright,  penetrating  eye  scanning  every 
one  in  the  audience  and  turning  it  upon  each  person 
as  he  entered.  When  the  loud  call  of  the  crier 
announced  that  the  sitting  was  over,  and  that  every  one 
might  depart,  the  venerable  High  Constable  turning 
towards  me  would  say,  with  an  old-fashioned  dignity 
of  manner,  "Have  I  kept  order,  sir,  in  the  Court?" 
and  receiving  the  usual  affirmative  answer,  he  would 
retire  with  the  firm  step  and  steady  carriage  of  a 
veteran  athlete,  and  with  his  retiring  .figure  before  my 
mind,  I  am  admonished  that  the  period  has  arrived  to 
close  my  account  of  the  Settlement  of  the  Jews  in 
North  America. 


APPENDICES. 


APPENDIX  I. 

DOCUMENTS  RELATING  TO  THE  ARRIVAL  AND  SETTLEMENT 
OF  THE  JEWS  IN  DELAWARE. 

From  the  Minutes  of  the  Adm'n  of  Jean  Paul  Jac- 
quet,  Vice-Director  at  the  Delaware,  and  his  Council,  z8th 
Dec.,  1655: 

Tieaty  made  for  trade  with  the  Indians  on  behalf  of  the 
community  living  at  Fort  Casimir,  which  they  willingly 
assented  to,  and  each  subscribed  to  a  subsidy  with  the  excep 
tion  of  Isaac  Israel  and  Isaac  Cardoso,  who  refused  to  give 
their  consent  and  prepared  to  leave  the  river  and  give  up 
their  trade,  than  to  assist  with  other  good  inhabitants  in 
maintaining  the  peace  of  this  highway.  Document  Relating 
to  the  Colonial  History  of  the  State  of  New  York,  XII  p. 
136.  Among  the  subscribers  is  Master  Jacob. 

On  June  16,  1656,  "  Isaak  Israel  appears  against  Jan  Flam, 
man  and  presents  the  following  petition  : 
To    the    Honbl.  Vice-Director   and  his  Council   residing  in 
Fort  Casimir 

Showeth  with  due  reverence  the  petitioner,  Isaak  Israel, 
that  he,  the  petitioner,  made  an  agreement  with  Captain  Jan 
Flamman  to  bring  him,  the  petitioner  and  his  goods,  to  the 
South  River  ;  that  he,  petitioner,  promised  to  pay  to  him, 
Jan  Flamman,  one  anker  of  brandy,  and  satisfied  him  also 
before  the  departure:  that,  as  he  shipped  two  pieces  of  duffel 
more  than  was  agreed;  he,  the  petitioner,  had  promised,  to 
give  one  beaver  more  and  above  the  foregoing  ;  but  that,  as 
by  great  improvidence  and  in  fair  weather  the  bark  stranded 
during  the  night  and  remained  there  for  a  considerable  time, 
whereby  they  were  compelled  to  unship  all  the  goods  from  the 
said  bark  and  to  bring  them  ashore,  during  the  time  they 
remained  there,  there  was  drunk  and  eaten  by  the  ship's  crew, 
as  well  as  by  passengers,  of  his,  the  petitioner's,  goods — one 
anker  of  brandy  and  15  pieces  of  cheese;  likewise  was  his 
duffel  much  spoiled  as  in  consequence  of  the  stranding,  tents 


IS2  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

and  shipping  places  had  been  made  of  it.  These  damages  can 
hardly  be  borne  by  me,  even  though  the  same  had  occurred 
through  bad  weather  or  other  misfortune.  It  is  estimated  by 
me  as  follows  : 

lor  one  anker  of  brandy — 8  beavers,  fl  64 

15  cheeses  at  5  fl  the  piece,  75 

for  damage  to  the  duffel,  as  the  same  has  been  dis 
colored  by  rain  and  sunshine  and  otherwise,     -       200 


Total  amount,  fl  339 

If  any  one  should  be  of  opinion  that  this  damage  was 
calculated  too  high,  the  petitioner  promises  100  guilders  and 
more  to  him,  who  shall  replace  his  goods  at  his  valuation, 
which  they  had  at  the  time  of  shipping  at  the  Manhattans, 
and  while  he  would  and  must  be  well  satisfied  with  the  great 
loss  of  ship  and  goods  if  the  mishap  had  occurred  by  una 
voidable  necessity,  yet  as  he  is  still  asked  for  the  beaver,  which 
he  promised  for  the  two  pieces  of  duffel,  besides  all  damage 
and  loss  which  he  has  sustained,  this  quite  unreasonable  mat 
ter  has  induced  him,  the  petitioner,  to  push  his  claim,  there 
fore,  he,  the  petitioner,  turns  to  your  honor,  and  requests 
that  by  your  Honor  he  may  be  assisted  and  helped  to  his  just 
and  lawful  claim,  which  doing,  etc.,"  was  signed,  Isaque  Israel. 

The  defendant  answers  that  he  has  no  knowledge  of  the 
points  in  dispute  ;  was  lying  in  his  bunk,  and  acc'g  to  the 
statement  of  Captain  Martyn,  there  was  still  18  fathoms  of 
water  when  he  went  to  lie  down  in  his  cabin.  As  regards  the 
brandy  this  was  broached  with  the  good  and  free  will  of  the 
pl'ff,  as  the  crew  were  wet  and  cold  ;  he  said,  "Drink  as 
much  as  is  necessary,  if  that  is  empty  you  can  get  more;  the 
stuff  is  lost  anyway."  As  to  the  cheese,  the  plaintiff  has  dealt 
them  out  voluntarily  to  every  one. 

Whereas  from  these  verbal  discussions  no  certainty  can  be 
had,  it  is  ordered  that  the  parties  adduce  proof  of  their  asser 
tions. 

On  the  23d  of  June,  Isaak  Israel  against  Jan  Flamman.  The 
pl'ff  produces  the  following  affidavit:  To-day,  date  as 
below,  appeared  before  me  A.  Hudde,  Secy  appointed  by 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  153 

the  Hon'ble    Lord  and    high  Council,  upon    request  of  Isaak 
Israel,  the  Worshipful  Lucas  Dirco  and  Abraham  Rycke. 

They  declared  together  and  each  for  himself  and  made 
affidavit,  as  they  do  hereby,  that  it  is  true,  that  they,  being  on 
board  the  bark,  called  "deFenix,"  between  the  i4th  and 
i5th  of  April,  towards  daybreak,  weather  and  wind  being 
fair,  ran  ashore  and  remained  fast,  and  that  during  the  time 
they  sat  there,  one  anker  of  brandy  of  the  aforesaid  Isack 
Israel  was  drank  out  and  some  cheeses  eaten,  but  the  number 
is  not  well  known  to  them,  as  all  the  drinkables  and  eateable5 
were  taken  for  the  satisfaction  of  their  wants,  without  re 
gard  as  to  whom  they  belonged.  Likewise,  we  know,  that 
there  were  tents  to  lay  under,and  hammocks  to  lay  in,  made  of 
his,  Isack  Israel's,  duffels.  They  gave  as  reason  of  their 
knowledge  that  the  affiants  had  been  on  board  the  bark  dur 
ing  the  time,  which,  as  above  written,  we  the  undersigned 
declare  to  be  true  and  truthful,  and  are  willing  to  confirm,  if 
necessary,  with  our  oaths,  and  have  signed  this  in  presence 
of  the  below-named  witnesses.  Done  at  Fort  Ossimir  this 
i6th  of  June,  1656,  in  the  S.  R.  N.  N.  It  was  signed 
Abraham  Riycke,  Luyck  Dirco.  On  the  margin  stood,  as 
witnesses,  Jan  Juriaensen,  Jan  Eckhoff.  Having  heard  the 
arguments  of  the  parties  and  their  reasons  pro  and  contra 
having  been  well  stated,  we  cannot  but  judge  that  the  matter 
necessarily  must  lead  to  a  considerable  increase  of  lawsuits, 
which  again  will  give  rise  to  others.  The  parties  are  advised, 
therefore, to  arrange  the  matter  in  friendship.but  if  they  cannot 
agree,  they  shall  address  us  again.  This  they  accepted.  Doc. 
Relating  to  Colonial  History  of  New  York,  XII.  p.  147-8. 
Doc.  R.  to  the  H.  of  Dutch  and  Swedish  Settlements  on  the 
Delaware.  By  B.  Firnow. 

Letter  Wm.  Beeckman  to  Stuyvesant,  (XII,  p.  447.) 
ALTENA,  the  5th  of  Dec.  1663. 

GENTLEMEN.— I  heard  at  New  Amstei  yesrerday  :hat  Mr. 
d'Henojossa  would  send  as  quickly  as  possible  a  savage  to  your 
Hon'ble  Worships,  his  Honor  arrived  here  in  the  ship  "de  Pur_ 
merlaender  Kirck,"  on  the  evening  of  the  3d  inst.,  together  with 


154  JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

Peter   Alrichs  and   Israel,  who  went   away  with   Miss   Pnntz,   as 
members  of  the  high  Council  and  150  souls." 

(Alexander  d'Henojossa  was  appointed  Director  of  the  D.  W.  I. 
Co.  colony  on  the  South  River.  XII.,  p.  450.) 

"The  fur  trade  has  been  recommended  to  Mr.  Peter  Alrichs, 
who  has  brought  along  for  it  200  pieces  of  duffels,  blankets  and  other 
goods  nec'y  for  it.  Alrichs  is  to  trade"at  New  Amstil,  the  Honble 
Councillor  Israel  at  or  near  Passajongh,  etc."  Dec.  28,  1663. 

Census  of  Responsible  Housekeepers  and  their  family  at  vari 
ous  places  on  the  Delaware  River  in  1680.     (XII.,  p.  646-8.) 
In  St.  Jones  and  Duck  Creek  : 
Mr.    Isaack,     3   in   family. 
Richard  Levy,  2     "         ••         (P.  647.) 


APPENDIX  II. 

NOTES  ON  THE  HISTORY  OF  THE  JEWS   IN  ENGLAND   AND 
THE  AMERICAN  COLONIES. 

On  September  i2th,  1883,  Dr.  Felsenthal,  of  Chicago,  sent 
a  letter  to  Judge  Chas.  P.  Daly,  of  New  York,  expressing  his 
thanks  for,  and  his  appreciation  of  the  admirable  address 
which  the  honorable  Judge  had  delivered  a  few  months  pre 
vious,  at  the  laying  of  the  corner-stone  of  the  new  Hebrew 
Orphan  Asylum,  in  New  York,  and  which  address  had  after 
wards  been  published  in  pamphlet  form.  After  the  assurance 
of  his  gratification  and  thanks,  Dr.  Felsenthal  continued  : 

"  Only  in  order  to  show  you  with  what  attention  I  have 
read  your  address,  I  beg  to  say  that  it  seems  to  me  you  were 
not  quite  correct  when  you  stated  (on  page  8)  that  '  Jews 
were  not  entitled  to  vote  for  members  of  Parliament.'  This,  it 
appears  to  me,  conveys  an  error.  By  an  Act  of  Parliament, 
passed  1740 — 13  Geo.  II  c.  7 — which  Act  lies  at  this  moment 
before  me, — Jews  living  seven  years  in  any  of  the  American 
colonies  were  declared  to  be  fully  emancipated,  and  all  rights 
of  natives  were  granted  to  them,  and  they  were  deemed,  ad 
judged,  and  taken  to  be  his  Majesty's  natural  born  subjects  of 
this  Kingdom,  to  all  intents,  constructions,  and  purposes,  as  if 
they,  and  ever  one  of  them,  had  been,  or  were  born  within 
this  Kingdom.'  Section  3  of  this  Act  provided  that  in  the 
oath  of  allegiance  to  be  taken,  Jews  may  omit  from  this  oath 
the  words  '  upon  the  true  faith  of  a  Christian.'  You  see  that 
this  Act,  so  strangely  overlooked  by  all  historians  of  Judaism, 
though  it  is  probably  the  very  first  legislative  enactment  in  all 
Christendom  in  favor  of  Jewish  '  emancipation,'  in  favor  of 
granting  perfect  equality  before  the  laws  to  the  confessors  of 
the  Jewish  faith — left  nothing  to  be  desired  by  the  Jews  in 
the  American  colonies  in  regard  to  their  juridical  and  political 
status. 

It  would  now  be  of  interest  to  learn  whether  practically  the 


I$  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

law  was  carried  out,  or  whether  it  remained  a  dead  letter; 
whether  it  proved  to  be  a  stimulant  to  bring  at  that  time  a 
considerable  Jewish  immigration  to  these  shores,  or  not,  etc. 
An  examination  of  the  Court  Reports  of  the  Colonies,  in  as 
far  as  still  accessible,  might  also  contribute  some  knowledge 
on  these  points. 

The  historian  of  American  Judaism  will  also  have  to  deal 
with  the  curious  fact  that,  while  the  Jews  in  the  Colonies 
were  admitted  to  full  citizenship  already  in  1740,  yet  in  some 
of  '  the  States '  they  were  excluded  from  the  enjoyment  of  the 
rights  of  citizenship  by  constitutional  provisos.  Thus.  f.  i., 
according  to  the  old  Constitution  of  Maryland  only  *  Chris 
tians,'  or  '  Trinitarians ' — I  do  not  remember  which  the  word 
was— were  eligible  to  State  offices,  until  some  fifty  years  ago  a 
new  Constitution  was  adopted.  In  North  Carolina,  until  a 
few  years  ago,  only  Protestants  could  be  elected  to  State 
offices.  If  I  am  not  mistaken,  all  the  States  have  now  finally 
based  ther  constitution  and  laws  on  this  point  upon  a  true 
Jeffersonian  basis,  and  have  totally  done  away  with  the  med 
iaeval  idea  of  placing  the  Jews  upon  the  level  of  pariahs.  But 
a  query  permit  me:  Is  it  not  still  held  as  a  judicial  maxim  by 
some  of  the  American  jurists  that  'Christianity  is  a  part  of  the 
common  law  of  our  country?' 

I  hope,  dear  sir,  you  will  excuse  this  letter.  Please  con 
sider  it  as  a  tribute  of  thanks  and  of  respect  which  I  bring  to 
you.  With  the  highest  regards  etc.,  etc. 

B.  FELSENTHAL. 

JUDGE  DALY'S  REPLY. 

84  Clinton  Place, 
New  York,  November  3oth,  1883. 

DEAR  SIR. — I  owe  you  an  apology  for  not  answering  your, 
letters  before.  They  were  addressed  to  me  during  my  Sum 
mer  vacation,  when  I  was  absent,  and  since  my  return  to  this 
city,  I  have  not  had  leisure  until  now  to  reply  to  them. 

I  inter  from  your  letter,  that  you  have  not  read  the  account 
I  gave  of  the  settlement  of  the  Jews  in  North  America,  in  an 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  1 57 

address  I  delivered  eleven  years  ago  (1872),  on  the  fiftieth 
anniversay  of  the  Hebrew  Benevolent  Society,  and  which,  as 
subsequently  written  out  by  me,  and  augmented,  was  pub 
lished  in  1872,  in  successive  numbers  of  the  Jewish  Times 
of  this  city.  If  you  had,  you  would  have  seen  that  I  referred 
to  Tomlin's  Law  Dictionary,  Art.  "  Jews,"  4th  London  edi 
tion  as  authority  for  the  statement  that  in  1737  (erroneously 
printed  in  my  last  address  as  1728),  Jews  were  not  entitled 
to  vote  for  members  of  Parliament.  As  Tomlin's  Law  Dic 
tionary  is  a  book  for  which  you  might  have  to  seek  in  a  law 
yer's  library,  I  will  give  you  the  passage  in  which  he  states  the 
disabilities  that  Jews  were  under  in  England,  as  late  as  1835, 
when  the  fourth  edition  of  his  work  was  published.  It  is  as 
follows :  "  A  Jew  is  prevented  from  sitting  in  Parliament 
holding  any  office,  civil  or  military,  under  the  Crown,  or 
any  situation  in  corporate  bodies.  He  may  be  excluded  from 
practising  at  the  bar,  or  as  an  attorney,  proctor,  or  notary, 
from  voting  at  elections,  from  enjoying  any  exhibition  in 
either  university,  or  from  holding  some  offices  of  inferior  im 
portance." 

The  Act  of  Parliament  of  1740,  to  which  you  refer  (13 
Geo.  1 1  c.  7,  Evans  Stat.  Vol.  I.,  p.  10),  had  not  much  effect- 
Under  it,  foreigners  who  had  resided  seven  years  in  a  British 
colony,  without  being  absent  at  any  time  over  two  months, 
might  be  naturalized;  and  if  such  foreigner  were  a  Jew,  he 
might  be  naturalized  without  taking  the  Sacrament  of  the 
Lord's  Supper,  under  7  Jac.  I.  c.  n,  and  in  his  case,  under 
this  Act,  the  words  in  the  abjuration  oath,  "  on  the  true  faith 
of  a  Christian  "  might  be  dispensed  with  ;  but  the  naturaliza 
tion  could  only  be  obtained  by  applying  for  an  Ac- 
of  Parliament,  and  a  certificate  had  to  be  obtained  from 
the  Home  Secretary  before  a  bill  could  be  introduced 
that  the  person  applying  was  of  good  character,  etc. 
And  as  the  procuring  of  the  passage  of  an  Act  of 
Parliament  was  "  attended  with  a  great  deal  of  trouble 
and  some  expense,"  very  few  Jews  availed  themselves 
of  it,  a  fact  ascertained  by  an  enquiry  made  by  Parlia 
ment  in  1754  (Smollett's  ''History  of  England,  "  B.  III.  c.  Ill 


158  JEWS    IN   NORTH    AMERICA 

5,  X.).  As  this  Act  of  1740  applied  only  to  persons  who  had 
resided  the  prescribed  number  of  years  in  British  Colonies, 
an  act  was  introduced  in  1753  (2^  Geo.  n  C.  2)  by  which 
any  foreign  Jew  could  be  naturalized  upon  like  conditions.  It 
passed  the  House  of  Lords  without  opposition,  but  was  furi 
ously  assailed  in  the  House  of  Commons.  It  was  carried, 
however  by  the  power  of  the  Ministry.  This  Act,  which  is 
historically  known  as  "  The  Jew  Bill,"  continued  only  for  a 
few  months,  for  it  was  received  by  the  nation,  the  historians 
tell  us,  with  "  horror  and  execration."  Those  who  had  voted 
for  it  were  denounced  by  the  people.  The  Bishop  of  Norwich 
was  insulted  at  the  communion,  and  in  the  public  streets  ; 
petitions  poured  in  from  the  cities  for  its  repeal,  and  on  the  first 
day  of  the  next  session,  a  bill  to  repeal  it  was  introduced  and 
hurriedly  passed  with  the  assent  of  both  parties.  This  intol 
erance  in  respect  to  the  Jews  continued  until  1825,  when  an 
Act  was  passed  (9,  Geo.  I.  V.  c.  27)  relieving  persons  to  be 
naturalized  thereafter  from  the  obligation  of  taking  the  Sac 
rament  of  the  Lord's  Supper. 

So  far  from  the  legislation  to  which  you  refer  having  brought 
about  any  tolerant  feeling  towards  thejews,the  repeal  of  this  Ac- 
of  1753  was  rather  approved  of  than  otherwise  by  Blackstone  (i 
Blackst.  Com.  375),  and  in  1786,  Lord  Chancellor  Thurlow 
decided  that  the  bequest  of  one  Isaacs,  who  left  ^£1,200  to 
found  an  annuity  for  the  support  of  a  synagogue,  was  void, 
that  the  Crown  should  decide  to  what  charitable  use  the  an 
nuity  could  be  applied  ;  and  the  Crown  directed  that  ^1,000 
of  it  should  be  paid  to  the  treasurer  of  a  foundling  hospital,  .to 
be  applied  towards  the  support  of  a  preacher  and  the  instruc 
tion  of  the  children  under  the  care  of  the  hospital,  in  the 
Christian  religion  (Da  Costa  v.  De  Pays,  Ambler's  Rep.  228, 
Note  I,  and  see  7  Vesey,  p,  61),  which  was  the  Government's 
interpretation  of  the  testator's  intention. 

The  account  I  have  given  you  of  the  Act  of  1740,  of  the 
hasty  repeal  of  the  law  that  was  enacted  afterwards  to  enable 
Jews  to  be  naturalized  under  it,  and  of  the  intolerant  spirit  of 
the  English  people  towards  the  Jews  up  to  the  end  of  the  firs 
quarter  of  the  present  century,  will,  I  think,  be  a  sufficient 


JEWS  IN  NORTH  AMERICA  159 

reply  to  your  inquiry  respecting  the  effect  of  the  Act  of  17 40. 
In  !737»  a  question  arose  in  the  colony  of  New  York,whether 
Jews  could  vote  for  Members  of  the  House  of  Assembly,  it 
appearing  in  an  exciting  election  that  several  Jews  had  voted 
for  one  of  the  candidates.  The  question  was  brought  before 
the  House  of  Assembly,  and  counsel  was  heard  upon  it  on 
both  sides,  after  which  a  resolution  that  they  could  not  vote 
for  Members  of  the  Legislature  was  unanimously  passed  by 
the  House,  which  had  all  the  force  of  a  statute.  It  was  in 
these  words :  "  Resolved,  That  it  not  appearing  to  this 
House,  that  persons  of  the  Jewish  religion  have  a  right  to  be 
admitted  to  vote  for  Parliament  men  in  Great  Britain,  it  is 
the  unanimous  opinion  of  this  House,  that  they  ought  not  to 
be  admitted  to  vote  for  representatives  in  this  colony." 

Before  the  passage  of  the  Reform  Bill  and  the  repeal  of  the 
Corporation  and  Test  Acts,  which  removed  so  many  of  the 
Jewish  disabilities,  it  was  never  definitely  settled  what  were 
the  exact  civil  rights  of  Jews  born  in  England. 

In  1684,  it  was  agreed  before  the  King's  Bench  by  the  At 
torney  General,  in  the  case  of  the  East  India  Company  v. 
Sands  (2  Shower's  Rep.  371),  that  all  Jews  in  England  were 
under  an  implied  license,  which  the  King  might  revoke,  the 
effect  of  doing  which  would  be  that  they  would  then  become 
aliens.  Even  so  great  a  Judge  as  Lord  Hardwicke,  held  in 
1744  that  a  bequest  for  the  maintenance  of  an  assembly  or 
synagogue  for  the  reading  of  the  Jewish  Law  was  void,  be 
cause  the  Jewish  religion  was  not  tolerated  in  England,  but 
only  connived  at  by  the  legislation  (3  Swanston's  Rep.,  p.  489, 
Notes). 

It  was  conceded  that  a  Jew  born  in  England,  especially  of 
parents  who  were  also  born  in  England,  was  a  British  subject; 
but  whether  he  could  lawfully  hold  real  estate,  was  doubted. 
In  1818,  Sir  Samuel  Romilly  said  that  Jews  born  in  England 
were  as  much  entitled  to  hold  land  asany  other  natives, and  that 
no  one  had  ever  objected  to  a  title  en  the  ground  that  the  owner 
was  a  Jew,  and  many  eminent  lawyers  and  judges  had  before 
expressed  themselves  to  the  same  effect;  and  yet,  down  to 
the  removal  of  all  disabilities  in  i853,this  point  was  still  doubted 


160  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

under  the  statutes  or  ordinances  of  the  54th  and  55th  Henry 
III.  (A.  D.  1269),  which  declared  that  no  Jew  should  hold  a 
freehold,  and  was'never  definitively  settled.  Being  a  British 
subject  and  entitled  to  hold  land  would  not,  in  itself,  enable 
a  Jew  to  vote  for  Members  of  Parliament  at  the  period 
named  (1737).  Persons  then  entitled  to  vote  for  Members  of 
Parliament  were  burgesses  of  the  town  or  city  represented  by 
the  member;  or  in  the  counties,  persons  who  had  a  freehold 
estate  yielding  forty  shillings  annually;  or  those  who  enjoyed 
the  right  under  some  special  franchise.  Now,  if  a  Jew  were 
admitted  to  be  a  burgess  of  the  town  or  city,  or  if  he  had  a 
freehold  estate  yielding  forty  shillings  annually,  he  would  still, 
before  voting  for  Member  of  Parliament,  have  to  take  the  ab 
juration  oath,  if  it  was  required  (Watson  on  Sheriffs,  p.  329). 
This  oath  was  "  on  the  true  faith  of  a  Christian,"  except  in  a 
few  particular  cases  where  these  words,  by  statute,  might  be 
omitted,  and  this  oath  no  Jew  could  take.  This  continued  to 
be  the  law  until  the  Act  of  the  8th  and  gth  of  Victoria  C. 
52,  by  which  these  words,  "on  the  true  faith  of  a  Christian,1' 
might  be  dispensed  with,  where  the  person  swore  that  he  pro 
fessed  thejewish  religion,  and  nad  conscientious  scruples  against 
taking  the  oath  in  the  previous  form.  What  Tomlins  therefore 
meant  when  he  says  in  the  extract  that  I  have  given  you,  that 
a  Jew  could  not  vote  at  elections,  was,  that  he  could  not,  be 
cause  he  could  not  take  the  abjuration  oath,  which  might  be 
required  of  him. 

The  Jews  in  England  were  the  very  last  to  raise  any  ques 
tions,  during  the  seventeenth  and  eighteenth  centuries,  about 
their  civil  rights.  All  they  wanted  was  to  be  left  undisturbed 
in  their  business,  their  families,  and  in  their  religious  worship- 
They  knew  how  hostile  the  English  people  were  to  them' 
especially  after  1755,  and  being  secure  in  their  business,  and 
undisturbed  in  their  religion  and  their  families,  they  were  ex 
ceedingly  careful  to  avoid  everything  that  might  direct  public 
attention  to  them  as  a  body,  or  in  any  way  excite  the  general 
anti- Jewish  prejudice.  So  mindful  and  careful  were  they  to 
divert  any  outburst  of  popular  feeling  from  themselves,  that 
during  the  Lord  George  Gordon  riots,  in  1780,  the  Jews  in 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA 


161 


Houndsditch  and  Duke's  Place   wrote  upon    their   shutters: 
"This  house  is  a  true  Protestant." 

I  trust,  my  dear  sir,  that  you  will  find    in   the   above   state, 
ments  all  the  information  you  desire  in  your  letter. 
I  am,  dear  sir,  very  truly  yours, 

CHAS.  P.  DALY. 
B.  FELSENTHAL. 


APPENDIX   III. 

ON   SOME    i8xH   CENTURY   STRICTURES  ON   THE  JEWS 
OF  NEW  YORK. 

There  is  an  unfavorable  statement  respecting  the  Jews  of 
New  York,  in  the  middle  of  the  last  century,  in  a  small  work 
published  in  London  in  1765,  called  a  "Concise  Account  of 
Noith  America,  etc.,  etc.,  by  Major  Robert  Rogers."*  It  is 
contained  in  his  description  of  the  City  of  New  York,  and  is 
as  follows:  "  This  city  abounds  with  many  wealthy  mer 
chants,  who  carry  on  a  large  trade  to  foreign  parts  and  are 
observed  to  deal  very  much  upon  honor,  excepting  some  Jews 
who  have  been  tolerated  to  settle  there,  having  a  synagogue  in 
the  city,  who  sustain  no  very  good  character,  being  many  of 
them  selfish  and  knavish  and  (where  they  have  an  opportunity) 
are  an  oppressive  and  cruel  people." 

As  this  statement,  so  far  as  I  have  been  able  to  ascertain,  is 
unsupported  by  any  other  evidence,  I  have  been  at  some 
trouble  to  gather  what  now  can  be  collected  respecting  Major 
Rogers,  the  author  of  this  book,  as  the  weight  to  be  attached 
to  so  serious  a  charge  against  a  class  of  merchants  of  a  parti 
cular  religious  denomination  would  depend  upon  the  writer's 
means  of  information,  and  as  we  do  not  know  what  means  he 
had,  we  would  naturally  be  influenced  in  considering  what 
reliance  could  be  placed  upon  his  statement  by  what  is  known 
respecting  his  character. 

He  was  born  about  1730,  in  Dumbarton,  New  Hampshire. 
His  father  was  an  Irishman,  being  one  of  the  early  settlers  of 
that  place.  In  early  life  he  became  distinguished  in  Indian 
warfare,  and  was  the  commander  of  a  Corps  called  '"  Rogers' 


*A  concise  Account  of  North  America,  containing  a  Description 
of  the  several  British  colonies  on  that  continent;  including  the  Island 
of  Newfoundland,  Cape  Breton,  etc.,  as  to  their  situation,  extent, 
climate,  soil,  produce,  etc. ;  to  which  is  subjoined  an  account  of  the 
several  nations  and  tribes  of  Indians,  by  Major  Robert  Rogers 
London,  1765.  8vo. 


JEWS    IN    NORTH    AMERICA  '    'l»3  H 

Rangers/'  among  whom  were  some  of  the  hardiest  sons  of 
New  England,  General  Stark  of  Bennington,  Samuel  Putnam 
and  Ebenezer  Webster,  father  of  the  celebrated  Daniel 
Webster.  In  command  of  this  corps,  he  served  in  the  French 
and  Indian  war,  and  as  a  military  leader  was  a  man  of  courage 
and  capacity,  being  successful  upon  two  occasions  in  i758) 
over  great  odds. 

After  the  French  and  Indian  War  he  went  to  England,  and 
during  his  residence  there  underwent  considerable  privations. 
He  managed,  however,  to  borrow  money  to  enable  him  to  print 
his  journal  and  the  book  above  referred  to,  which  he  dedicated 
to  the  King.  The  work  was  commended  by  the  London 
Monthly  Review,  the  reviewer,  in  all  probability,  getting  what 
knowledge  he  had  of  North  America  from  what  he  found  in 
the  book.  The  dedication  to  the  King  proved  of  service,  and 
Rogers  was  appointed  Governor  of  Michillinacinock.  He  was 
there  accused  of  plotting  to  plunder  the  fort  and  to  join  the 
French,  and  was  sent  to  Montreal  in  chains,  where  he  was  tried 
by  court-martial.  What  was  the  result  of  the  trial  I  do  not 
know,  but  he  was  in  England  again  in  1769,  when  he  was 
imprisoned  for  debt,  and  afterwards,  according  to  his  own 
account,  was  in  the  service  of  the  Dey  of  Algiers,  and  fought 
jn  two  battles.  When  the  American  revolution  broke  out  he 
was  in  America,  where,  although  making  loud  professions  of 
patriotism,  he  was  by  the  order  of  Washington  arrested  and 
imprisoned  as  a  spy,  and  afterwards  released  by  Congress  upon 
his  parole.  When  set  at  liberty  he  broke  his  parole,  and 
joining  the  royal  troops  organized  a  corps  called  the  "  Royal 
Rangers,"  of  which  he  was  the  Colonel,  a  corps  that  was 
celebrated  during  the  contest.  In  1778  he  was  proscribed 
and  banished  by  an  Act  of  New  Hampshire,  after  which  he 
went  to  England,  and  of  his  subsequent  career  I  know  nothing, 
except  that  it  is  said  that  he  died  there  about  1800. 

To  break  a  parole  is  regarded  by  mankind  as  the  most  dis  - 
honorable  act  that  an  individual  can  commit.  All  recognize 
that  this  relief  to  the  horrors  of  war  would  not  continue  to 
exist  unless  from  its  universal  observance.  The  most  depraved 
recognize  this,  and  even  savages.  A  military  man,  therefore, 


164  JEWS   IN    NORTH    AMERICA 

especially,  who  would  break  his  parole,  is  one  thereafter  not 
to  be  trusted  or  believed  in  anything.  I  should  attach  no 
weight  to  the  statement  of  the  dishonored  soldier  respecting 
the  Jewish  merchants  of  New  York  at  the  period  referred  to, 
unless  it  was  supported  by  some  other  evidence,  and  as  I  have 
already  said,  I  know  of  none.  On  the  contrary,  the  little  that 
I  have  been  able  to  find  respecting  the  Jews  of  the  City  of  New 
York  at  that  time  is  favorable.  Judge  Thomas  Jones*,  the 
Tory  historian  of  the  American  Revolution,  in  describing 
what  he  calls  "  the  golden  age  of  New  York,"  which  was  this 
very  period,  says:  "Even  the  very  Jews  all  lived  in  perfect  peace 
and  harmony,  enjoying  the  company  and  conversation  of  each 
other,  and  upon  all  occasions  returning  mutual  acts  of  friend 
ship,  kindness  and  affection.'' 

It  may  have  been  that  this  impecunious  man,  for  such 
Jones  appears  to  have  been  from  all  we  know  respecting  him, 
borrowed  money  trom  one  or  more  of  these  Jewish  merchants, 
and  was  subjected  to  imprisonment,  as  was  then  allowed,  to 
compel  the  repayment  of  it.f 

CHAS.  P.  DALY. 

*Jones'   History  of   New  York  during  the   Revolutionary   war 
Vol.  i,  p.  2. 

fThere  is  some  evidence,  but  it  is  of  a  slight  and  indefinite  kind, 
that  there  were  some  Jews  who  may  have  been  in  New  York 
during  this  period,  who  were  referred  to  unfavorably.  It  is  con 
tained  in  an  advertisement  in  a  New  York  journal  of  the  date  of 
September  5th,  1756,  of  Solomon  Hayes,  a  Jewish  West  India 
merchant  of  the  city,  stating  that  "several  scandalous  Jews"  were 
trying  to  hurt  his  "character  and  credit' 'as  they  had  "done  already,'' 
in  which  he  offers  a  reward  of  100  pistoles,  a  large  one  at  that 
time,  being  over  $300,  to  any  person  who  would  give  intelligence 
as  to  "who  they  were  and  where  they  were;"  and  as  he  did  not 
know  them  or  where  they  were,  they  may  not  have  been  residents 
of  New  York. 


I  N  DEX- 


Abrahams,  Joseph,  72. 

Adair,  137,  138. 

Adams,  A.  A  ,  145,  John  63,  John 
Quincy,  63,  116,  125. 

Adler,  Prof.  Cyrus  54;  note  58. 

Agriculture,  Jewish,  92,  94. 

Albany,  20,  22,  126;  note  19;  see 
Orange  (Fort) 

Algiers,    107,  121. 

Ambmsius,  Moses — held  in  de 
fault  of  payment,  7,  23;  note  3, 

Amsterdam,  centre  of  religious  tol 
eration,  3. 

Andros,  Governor,  26. 

Antwerp,  treaty  of,  3. 

Ararat,  city  of  refuge,  founded  by 
M.  M.  Noah,  129,  132. 

Arnold,  historian,  83,  84. 

Astor,  John  Jacob,  employed  by 
Hayman  Levy,  53,  54. 

Bahia  (St.  Salvador)  captured  5— 
resources  and  religious  tolera 
tion,  5. — Jews  settle  there  5-6 

Baltimore,  64,  126. 

Bancroft,  George  xiv,  13,  62;  note 
67 

Barbary  States,  106,  107,  in,    121, 

Barnes,  Mrs.,  102,  106,  119,  145. 

Barsimson,  Jacob,  protests  against 
taxation,,  17,  18,  19,  23;  note  16. 

Beekman,  William,  34.  153. 

Bellamont,  Lord,  antagonized  28; 
assisted  by  Jews,  28. 

Benjamin,  Abraham,  78;  note  84 — 
Isaac  78,  note  84 

Benjamin  of  Tuclela,  107. 

Bennett,  James  Gordon,  135, 

Blackstone,  158, 

Boeuf.  139. 

Bonan,  Simon,  freeman,  27,  note  25. 

Booth,  historian,  39. 

Bornal,  Raphael,  68,  note  75. 

Boston,  81,  86,  90,  91.  126;  notes 
87.  91. 

Boudinot,  137. 


Brackenridge,  62;  note  66. 

Brazil — settlements  in,  xiii, — Dutch 
occupation  of  xiii,  xv,  xvi,  xvii,  5,6. 

Breda,  trraty  of,  49;  note  54. 

BrodheaH,  Mr.,  cited,  i. 

Brown,  (?)  103,  David,  82;  note  88, 
Saul,  complains  about  trade 
restrictions,  24;  minister  of  con 
gregation,  28. 

Brugere,  Madame,  126. 

Bryson,  David,  44. 

Bueno,  Joseph,  permitted  to  trade 
in  N.  Y.,  27  note  25. 

Buffalo,  131,  132. 

Burgher  Guard,  Jews  in  16,  17. 

Burial  grounds,  34 — permission  for 
extension  of  land,  35— descrip 
tion  of  first  cemetery,  35;  notes 
41,  43.  46— in  Newport,  81,  82, 
86,  91. 

Butcher,  Joseph  Isaacs,  495  note  54 

Cadillac,  La  Motthe,  on  sects,  26. 

Cadiz,  108,  109 

Camp,,nnel,  Mordecai,  82. 

Cardoso,  Benjamin  22;  note  18— 
Isaac,  22;  note  18,  151. 

Cardoza,  Abraham  Nunez,  76,  note 
82. 

Cari^al,  Isaac,  Rabbi,  8i:  note  85. 

Casimir,  Fort,  151. 

Census  of  Jews  in  Barbary  States, 
121,  in  Florida,  75,  note  82;  in 
Georgia,  note  82;  New  England, 
note  82,  in  Newport,  79,^  New 
York,  52,  58.  75:  note  82;  North 
Carolina,  75;  note  82;  Pennsyl 
vania,  note  82;  South  Carolina, 
note  82;  in  U.  S.  97. 

Characterization  of  Jews,  87,   97. 

Charity  of  an  early  Jewish  settler, 
2,  23. 

Charlemagne.  88. 

Charleston,  Jews  settle  in,  70,  71, 
75,  76,  89,  91,  99,  105,  107,  108, 
1 18;  note  82. 


1 66 


Charter  of  liberties   and  privileges, 

25- 

Churchill,  140. 
Clay,  Henry,  125. 
Clinton,  De  Witt,  141 — Governor, 

51 — Lady,  51. 
Coen,  Jacob,  20. 
Cohen,  Aaron,  78  ;  note  84 — 

Abigail,  David,  Grace,   Hannah, 

68;  note  75— Isaac,  68,  78;  notes 

75  and  84— J.  Meyers,    31;    note 
.  32— Moses,  76;  note  82 — Nathan, 

Solomon,  78;  note  84 — Solomon, 

M.,  60 

Columbus,  xi,  xiii. 
Commerce,      i;s     influence     upon 

religion,  xiv. 

Constitution  of  U.  S.,  87. 
Costa,   D.,  31;  note  32,    Jacob,  68 

note  75. 
Cowell,  102. 

Cowyn,  Jacob,  taxed,  19;  note  16. 
Crawford.  Wm.  H.,  125. 
Croswel!,  135. 

Curacoa  colonized  by  Jews,  9,  14. 
Curtis,  Gt-orge  William,  77;  note  83. 

Da  Costa,  Anthony,  65 — Daniel 
Nunez,  45 — Isaac,  76;  note  82 — 
Joseph,  19,  23;  note  16— vs.  De 
Pays,  158. 

Daly,  Judge,  his  address  before 
the  Hebrew  Orphan  Asylum,  v, 
first  publication  of  his  work,  v, 
its  merits,  v,  xi. 

Daniels  A.  G.,  <S6  note  91. 

David,  Joshua,  Sr  and  Jr.,  49,  note 
54- 

Davis,  Richard,  40,41. 

Dandrade,  (D'Andrada?)  Fusil- 
ador.  19,  note  16. 

D'Andrada  (Dandrada  ?)  Salvator, 
denied  the  right  of  buying  real- 
estate. 18,19;  note  16,20 — applies 
for  citizens'  rights,  23,  48,  note 
54. 

De  Beauchamp,  xvii. 

Decatur,  Commodore,  109,  in, 
Ii2,  113,  114,  115. 

De  Fonseca,  Joseph  Nunez,  founds 
a  colony  in  Curacoa.  9. 

Dekay,  Jacc  b,  39,  40. 


De  Ulan,  Jan,  9. 

De   La   Motta,   Dr.    Emanuel,  72, 

note  79. 

De  Lancey  Oliver,  51. 
De  La   Simon,  Abraham,  fined  for 

violating   Sunday    laws,    11,   23, 

note  10. 

Delaware,  22,  151,   154. 
Delaware   River,  see  South  River. 
De   Lucena,  Abraham    p.   10   15  — 

applies  for   charter,  petitions   for 

trade,  18,  19,  20,  23.  24— tracies  to 

Lisbon,  28,  29. 
De  Lyon  (Delyon  ?),  Abraham,  66. 

68,  70,  73,  note  75. 
De  Meyer,  William,  41,  42. 
De   Olivers,  David,  76,    note  82. 
Depass,      Abraham,      72  —  David 

Lopass,  68,  note  75. 
Depivea,  Aaron,  68,  note  75. 
I>e  Sille,  Nicasius,  on  Jews  trading 

on  the  Delaware   River,  20,  note 

17- 

De  Sola,  Abraham,  101. 
Disagreements    between      English 

and  Dutch,  16. 
Discovery  of  America,  xii. 
D'Medena,  Isaac,  31,  note  32. 
Dongan,    Governor,    petitioned    by 

Jevvs  for  more  religious  freedom, 

25 — not  granted,  26,  27,  note  25. 
Dutch    occupation   of   Brazil,    xiii, 

xvii. 
Dutch    West   India   Company,  xv, 

5-  6,  9 

Editor's  work  explained,  ix. 
Eleazar.Eleazar.  78;  note  84— Isaac, 

78,  82,  83,  note  84, 
Elias,  David,  naturalized,  45;   note 

49- 

England,  excludes  Jews  from  legis 
lature,  47,  64,  note  54. 

English  Jews.  97,  108,  157  -161. 

Esopus,  22. 

Expulsion  of  Jews  from  France, 
Spain  and  Portugal,  2. 

Felsenthal,  Dr.  B.,155. 

Fischell,    Rev.  Dr.   A.,  xiv,  31,  80, 

notes  32  and  85. 
Flamman,  Jan  ,  151-153. 


167 


Fletcher,  Governor,  27-Florida,  75. 
Fonseca,  Joseph    Nunez  de,  9. 
Franc   (Franci  ?)  Jacob,   78,     note 

84. 

France,  96,  97,  99,  108. 
Franklin,  Dr.,  104. 
Franks,    Abraham.  31;   note   32 — 

Jacob,  31,  34,  43;  note  32. 
Frera,    David,  petitions   for  trade, 

19,  23,  note  1 6. 

George  I.  issues  an  edict  of  natural 
ization.  49;  note  54 

George  II.  ?ct  of,  82,  154,  I57/ 

George  IV.  act  of,  1 58. 

Georgia — Jews  in,  64 — prejudice 
against  Jews,  65 — Moravians  and 
Scotchmen  in,  67,  75;  note  82 

Germanv,  88 ,  97. 

Gibraltar,  no. 

Gideon,  Benjamin,  68,  note  75. 

Gill,  Thomas,  135. 

Gilman,  S.,  75,  note  82. 

Gomez,  A  braham.  54 — Daniel,  30,41 , 
42.  43,  44 — David,  30,  41,  42  — 
Isaac,  Jr.  44,  54,  note  58 — Louis, 
traffics  10  Lisbon,  29,  34,  42 — 
Mordecai,  30,  31;  note  32,  41, 
42,43;  note  43— Moses,  Jr.  31; 
note  32. 

Gomperts,  Joseph,  70. 

Gordon  riots,  160. 

Gould,  N.  H,  Esq.,  78,  note  84. 

Grand  Island,  96,  128,  130,  131, 
note  92, 

Gratz,  Joseph,  61— Michael,  60, 
Rebecca—  the  supposed  character 
in  Scott's  Ivanhoe,  61— contrary 
views,  62. 

Hackett,  James  H.,  119. 

Hammond,  138. 

Harby,    Isaac,  75,    note  82 

Hardwicke,  Lord.  159. 

Harrison  General,  135. 

Hart       Abraham,       70— Bernard, 

EmanuelB.,55,  56  — Rev.  Mr.  57. 
Hartford,  91. 
Hays,    Jacob    45,     146;    note  49  — 

Judah,  31;  note  32-Moses,  81,  90; 

note  87 — Solomon,  31,  164;  note 

32. 


Hendricks.Benjamin,  54 — Harman 

44- 
Henricque,  Jacob    Cohen,    19,   23; 

note  16. 
Henriquez,     Isaac,    freeman,     27; 

note  25 — Isaac  Nunez,    68;  note 

75— Shem,  68,  note  75. 
Henry  III  (act)  160. 
Historical    Society.  German  (of  N. 

Y.)xii. — New  York,  xiv. — Jewish 

viii,   ix.   8,    49,   54,    58,  62,    73; 

notes  4,    54.    58,  62,  66  and  67. 
Holland,    2 — deaf   to  Stuyvesant's 

anti  Jewish  prejudices,  9,  88,  91; 

note  5. 
Hollander,    J.    H.,    on  John 

brozo,  8,  62;  notes  4,  66. 
Hosack,  Mr.,  note   120. 
Hughes,  John,  note  120 — Mrs.  145. 
Hunter,    Governor,    petitioned   by 

D'Lucena,  28. 
Illan,  Jan  de,  9. 
independence,   declaration   of,  83, 

118. 
Indians  descendants  of    lost    tribes 

of  Israel,  131,     137,    138. 
Injustice,  in  New  York  colony,  51. 
Inquisition,  the  xiii. 
Intolerance  of  Spain,  2. 
Introduction  xi. 
Ireland  (author,),  106. 
Irving   Washington,    and  Rebecca 

Gratz,  61 . 
Isaacs,  158 — Abraham  naturalized, 

45;  note  49 — Isaac  78;  note  84 — 

Joseph  49;  note  54— Rev.  S.  M.  57 
Israel,    David,   held    in   N.    Y.   as 

fledge  for  paymrnt,  23;  note  7 — 
saac,  trade  on  Delaware  22,  154 
note  18. 
Italy,  88. 
Ivanhoe  61. 

Jackson,    General,   91,    125,      132, 

133.  134. 

Jacob,  Master,   151 
Jacobs, Mr.  78;  note  84 — Joseph,  78 

note  84. 

Jacquet,  vice-director  151. 
Jamaica,  81,  85. 
James.  Duke    of  York  (James  II.) 

grants  religious  freedom,  26. 


1 68 


James  I.  (acts)  157. 

Jameson,  Dr.  biography  of  Usse- 
linx  xv 

Janeway,  William.  39,  40. 

Jefferson,  Thomas,  president,  59, 
63,  72,  118 

Jeffrey  Lord,  61 

Jewish  Historical  Society,  Ameri 
can,  (its  establishment)  viii. 

Jews* their  interest  in  the  col 
onization  of  America,xi.— Spanish 
discovery  of  America,  xii — as 
intermediaries  between  Moors 
and  Christians,  xii, — their  scien 
tific  discoveries  xii — spreading 
geographical  science  xiii,  partici 
pation  in  Expeditions,  xiii  — 
secret  Jews  xiii,  financiers  aiding 
Columbus  xiii,  Jews  in  Mexico 
xiii,  Jews  as  new  Christians  in 
Mexico,  xiii, — in  Brazil  xvii, — lib 
erty  in  Rhode  Island,  xiv, — in 
Netherland  xv, — as  share-hold 
ers  of  Dutch  West  India  Co.  xv, 
9—  attacked  by  Usselinx  xvi,— as 
directors  of  the  E  &  W.  India 
Co,  xvii,  9 — in  Brazil,  promise 
aid  xvii — desire  naturalization 
xvii  — disavow  Christianity  xvii — 
leaves  Bahia  for  Amsterdam, 
xvii, — expelled  from  France, 
Spain  and  Portugal,  2— seeking 
refuge  in  Holland,  and  settle  in 
Amsterdam,  4 — in  Holland,  res 
tricted  socially  but  privileged  ini 
politics  4, — antagonized  by  Cath 
olics  and  Dutch  Protestants  6 — 
restrictions  in  ceremonial  wor 
ship,  6,  13,  note  II, — first  settle 
ment  from  Bahia  b — held  in  N. 
Y.,  lor  deficit  in  payment  of 
passage  money  7,  8,  note  3, — 
Dutch  government  defends  them 
against  Stuyvesant,9  note  5 — col 
ony  formed  in  Curacoa.  9 — Jew 
ish  directors  apply  for  special 
privileges  of  trade,  10 — Stuyv. 
orders  them  out  of  N  Y.  II, 
note  10  tolerated  in  Rhode  Island 

*Under  this  heading,  only  the  principal 
events  in  early  colonial  history  are  summar 
ized  in  chronological  order. 


13— settle  there  14.  15 — grant  of 
land  tor  cemetery  in  N.  Y.  15 — 
location  15-16 — N.  Y.  Jews  ex 
empt  from  military  service  16,  17; 
note  13 — petitions  for  trading  on 
Delaware  River,  19  note  17— 
complain  to  friends  in  Holland, 
21 — trade  at  Fort  Orange  (Al 
bany)  22,  note  19— Jews  admit 
ted  as  citizens,  23 — their  in  com 
petency  as  witnesses,  45,  46, 
notes,  53  and  54— not  permitted 
to  vo'e  46,  47.  51;  notes  53,  54  — 
prosperity  of  N.  Y.  colonists,  48, 
49,5oj  note  5~in  American  Army 
54;  note  58 — migrate  to  Philadel 
phia  55,  58,  notes  58  and  62 

Joghimsen,  (Joachimsen?)  Daniel, 
32- 

Johnson,  Miss,    106,  123. 

Jones,  Col.  Charles  C.,  67   note  73. 

Jones,  ludge  Thomas,  164. 

Juda.  Baruch,  31,  note  32. 

Judah,  Benjamin  S,,  139,  145,  Em- 
anuel,  103  Samuel  B.  H.,  dra 
matic  writer,  his  career,  139. 

Kalm,  Swedish  traveller,  describes 
the  customs  and  synagogal  ser 
vice  of  New  York  Jews,  48,  50 
note  55. 

Kayserling,  Dr.  Moses — on  discov- 
of  America, xii, — Portuguese  dis 
coveries  xii — on  Marranos,  xiii — 
recent  researches,  xii — "Seph- 
ardim'1  xiii. 

Keene,  109,  no. 

Kent,  Chancellor,  43— Nathan, 
Judge,  136. 

King,  Charles.  125,  126. 

Kohler,  Rev.  Dr.  xii. 

La   Cuya,     (Lucena?)     Abraham, 

taxed,  19,  note  16. 
Lamontagne,   on   Jewish  trade,  21 

note  17. 
Lawrence.     Eugene,     on    Jewish 

discoveries  xiii, 
Laying    of  the  Corner  Stone  of  N. 

Y.  Hebrew  Orphan  Association 

v. 
Lazarus,  Michael,  76  note  82. 


INDEX. 


169 


Lee  59 

Leesugg,  Miss.  119. 

Legal  Status  of  the  Jews  45,  49, 
87,  89,  155,  161. 

Legislature  63. 

Leicester,  86. 

Leira,  the  historical  town  of  Es- 
tramadura  flourished  because  of 
Jews,  4. 

Levey,    Richard,    22.  154,  note  18. 

Leisler,  Governor,  26,  28. 

Levy,  Asser,  protests  against  tax 
ation  17,  note  14 — as  champion, 
18 — as  merchant  in  Albany  22; 
note  19 — applies  in  vain  for  citi 
zenship,  23,  32,  33 — [Asser] 
Nathan,  31,34, 43;  note  32— Hay- 
man,  52  — his  high  standing, 
character  and  influence,52-Isaac, 
34— Moses,  34,  49;  note  54— Ze- 
porah,  Miss,  54. 

Lisbon,  29  79,  80,  104;  note  85, 

Lockhart,  61. 

London,   64,    69,  93    108. 

Longfellow,  H.  W.  81  note  85. 

Lopez,  Aaron,  76,  77,  78.  79,  82, 
83,  85.  86,  89— Moses,  80,  89; 
note  85. 

Louisiana,  75.  no,  116. 

Lucena,  Jacob,  22,  note  19.  See 
D«  Lucena. 

Lumbrozo,  Jacob,  (John,)  8,  62; 
note  54.  66. 

Lyon,  Isaac  Nathan,  78;  note  84. 
See  Ue  Lyon. 

Lyons,  Rev,  Jacques  J.,  57,    101. 

Madison,  President,  59,  72,  73 — 
his  indebtedness  to  Haym  Sal 
omon,  60,  63. 

Marache,  Solomon,  60. 

Maranos, — secret  Jews  xiii — in 
Cuba,  xiii,  xvii. 

Markens,  Isaac,  87,  101;  note  91. 

Marques,  Isaac  Rodriguez  49;  note 
54- 

Marvel,  Andrew,  on  Amster 
dam,  3. 

Mary  land,  Jews  in  8,62,  64,  82— in 
tolerance  in,  63,  156. 

Massachusetts,  91. 

Maxwell,  Hugh,  144. 


Mears,  Judah,  31,  34,  note  32. 
Medus,  Simon,  82,  note  88. 
Mendez,  Abraham,  26 — Benjamin, 

69 — Solomon.  78;  note  84. 
Menasseh  ben  Israel  to   Cromwell, 

xvi. 

Menorah,  xii,  xiii,  41;  note  43. 
Mercer  59. 
Merritt,    William,    Mayor  of  N.  Y., 

39- 

Mesa,  Isaac,  23. 
Meyer,  Rev.  Mr.,  57. 
Mexico — settlement  in,  xiii. 
Mifflin,  59,   107. 
Military  service,  exemption  of  Jews 

from  17;  54,  75,  16,  note  13. 
Miller,    Kev.   John,  on  location  of 

first  Synagogue,  27, 
Minis,     Abraham,    Esther,    Leah, 

68,  note   75;  Philip,    70,  Simeon, 

68,  70,  73,  note  75, 
Mississippi  92,93,  94. 
Missouri,  92,  93,  94. 
Molena,  68  note  75. 
Monroe,  James,  59,  109,  112,  116, 

117.  124. 
Moors,  their    scientific  inventions, 

xii,  88. 

Moranda,  David,  68,  note  75. 
Moravians,  67. 

Morris,  George  P.  122— Robert  59. 
Moses,  Isaac,  Judah,  Jacob,  Moses 

78;  note  84. 
Myers,  Aaron,    Benjamin,  Moses, 

Naphtali,   78;  note  84— Solomon 

45,  78,  notes  49,  84. 

Napoleon,  Louis    (brother  of  Nap. 

1.)    King  of    Holland,    removes 

Jewish  disabilities,  4. 
Nathan  Simon,  60. 
Naturalization   ot  Jews,  45,  49,  82, 

155,  161  noies  49,  54, 
New  Bedford.  81  note  85. 
New  Castle  22. 
New  England  xi,  75. 
New  Haven,  91. 
New  Orleans,  85,  90,  91,  116. 
Newport,  Jews  settle  in,  14,  15,  21. 

new    arrivals,     29,     70,    76,    77, 

79,    80,   82,8485,86,^7,89,91, 

92;  notes  83,  84,  85. 


170 


New    Netherland,   see  New  York. 

New  York,  Jews  in  xvii,  6,  58,  75. 

Niagara  River,  96,  128,  note  92. 

Noah,  Manuel.  104 — Mordecai  M. 
his  career  as  statesman,  politi 
cian,  author,  dramatist  and  jour 
nalist,  his  restoration  schemes, 
96,  102, 104;  note  92 — Shem,  68; 
note  75. 

Norsemen,  91. 

North  Carolina  75,  156. 

Nunez,  104,  Dr.  31,  104;  note  32  — 
Joseph  31;  note  32. 

Nunis,  Daniel,  68;  note  75 — Doctor 
66,  67,  68:  note  75  — Moses, 
Mrs.  N.,  Sipra,  68,  note  75. 

O'Callaghan,  cited,     15. 

Oglethorpe, General  Geo.,64-estab- 
lished  Jewish  colony,  64 — char- 
acter,66  — eulogizes  Jews, 66, 67 — 
disobeys  instructions  injurious 
to  Jews,  69,  70,  104. 

Olivera,  David,  Isaac,  Jacob,  Leah, 
68;  note  75. 

Orange,  Fort,  13,  20,  21,  22. 

Outrage  upon  a  Jew  by  Oliver  De 
Lancey,  51, 

Pacheco,     Benjamin    Mendes,  31; 

note  32. 

Packeckoe,  Moses,  82. 
Palestine,  91,  129. 
Paris,  1 1 6. 

Parliament,  64,  82,  83. 
Payne  John  Howard,   120,  145. 
Peixotto,  Rev.  Moses  L.  M.,  56.  57. 
Pennsylvania,    Jews  in,  58,  62,  75. 
Philadelphia,  89,  99,  102,  103,  104, 

105,  126.     See  Pennsylvania. 
Phillips,  Aaron  J.f  102,  103,  120 — 

Jonas,  60 — Jonas  B.,  dramatist, 

his  career.  145— Moses,  S.,  102. 
Phillipse,    Col.    Frederick,    45. 
Pimenta,  Moses,  76.  note  82. 
Pin  to, Rev.  Jos. Isaac  Jerushalem,56. 
Plymouth,  xiv,  108. 
Poland,  88. 
Polock,  Cushman,  72. 
Portuguese,    promise   amnesty    to 

Jews,  xvii. 
Preface,  v. 


Providence,  77,  note  83. 
Puff,  Major  Pindar,  141. 
Puritans,  xiv. 

Quakers,  objectionable,  14;  in  New 
port,  77,  note  83. 

Raphall,  Rabbi,  31,  note  32. 
Real,  Vene,  68,  note  75. 
Restoration,    schemes,   of   M.    M. 

Noah,   127,  138. 
Rhode  Island,   77,    80,    82,  83,  84; 

note  83 — Jews  in  xiv.  14,  21,  76. 
Richmond,    99,  settlement  of  Jews 

in,  101. 
Riviera,  Abraham,  31 ;  note  32 — 

Jacob,  70.  78,  79. 
Robinson,  Beverly,  68— W.D.,  92 

94.  96. 
Rodriguez.    (Rodrigues),   Isaac,  31 

45;  notes  32,  49 — J.R.,  31,  78,79; 

note  32. 

Rogers,  Robert,  162. 
Romilly,  Sir  Samuel,  159. 
Rosendale,   Attorney   General,  49, 

note  54. 
Russell,    Chas.    R.    Esq.,    78,  86, 

note  84. 
Rutgers,  Harmanus,  38. 

Sabbath,  non-observance  of,  n,  12; 
note  10. 

Salem,  no. 

Salomon,  David,  78;  note  84  —  Haym 
58;  staunch  support  of  U.S.  gov 
ernment,  58,  59;  death  60;  note 

63- 

Salvador,  Francis,  65. 
Savannah,    settlement    of   Jews  in, 

64.69,   70,71,72,  73.74-75.76, 

89,  91,  99,  103,   104. 
Scott,   Sir    Walter,  61— his  Jewish 

characters,  62. 
Scovill,   Jos.    A.    42,    55,    56,  126, 

notes  46,  59. 
Seixas/A.B.  Judge,  131— Benjamin 

55 — Rev.     Gershom,      56 — Rev. 

Isaac,  15.   57 — Moses,  90. 
Sewarcl,    William  H.  47,  135,   note 

Sharpe,  Rev.  John  29,  note  30. 
Sheanth   Israel,  Cong.,  33,  43,  44. 


INDEX. 


171 


Sheftail  Benjamin,  68,  70,  73,  74; 
note  75 — Levy,  [Levi]  69,  70,  72, 
76;  note  82— MSS.  67;  note  73— 
Mordecai  68,  70,  74— Sheftail, 
72,  74- 

Simon,  see    De  La  Simon. 

Simson,  Joseph,  45,  70,  note  49. 
Sampson,  54,  70. 

Skene,  Mr.  61. 

Sloughter,  Governor,  27. 

Smith,  Ethan,  137,  Goldwin,  Pro 
fessor  on  Jews, vi, historian, cited48 

Smollett,  157. 

South  Carolina— Jews  in  70,71, 
75  note  82. 

South  River  13,  19,  20,  21,  22. 

Southey,  historian,  cited  xvii    5. 

Spanish  settlements,  xiii. 

Sparks  Jared,  54.  note  58. 

Spiller,    119.     '       :;3 

Spinoza,  4. 

St.  Glair,  59. 

Steuben,   59. 

Stiles,  Dr.  81,  note  85. 

Stone,  Col.  W.  L.   143. 

Straus,  Hon   Oscar  S.  62,  note  66. 

Strictures  on  Jews  by  Rogers  162. 

Stuyvesant  on  Jewish  settlements 
xv.— his  hostility,  8,  u— orders 
them  from  N.  Y.  ir,  17,  note 
10 — censured  18;  note  15 — 
against  Jewish  trade,  20,  21; 
note  17 — rebuked  21,  37,  42; 
note  46. 

Suasso,  Alvarez   Lopez,  65. 

S  wanton,  Robert,  44. 

Synagogues  described  27,  28,  30, 
57,  58,  60.  71,  72,  73,  75,  80, 
81,  85,  87,  90,  92.  95,  101,  108, 
note  85. 

Taxation,  unequal,  19. 
Tennis,  39. 
Thorburn,  Grant,  32. 
Thurlow,  158. 


Tobias.Joseph.Michael,76;  note  82. 

Tomlin's  Dictionary,  157. 

Touro,  Abraham,  U.  85,  90. — Rev. 

Isaac,  81.    85;  note  87.— Jacob, 

85,  90.— Judah,  90,  91. 
Tripoli,  106,   107,  108. 
Tuckerman,  H.  T.,  80,  note  85. 
Tunis,    107,     108,  109,    no,  in, 

113,    114,    121,  122,    130. 

Usselinx,     William,     xv,    his  ani 
mosity  toward  Jews,  xvi,  xvii. 
Utrecht,  treaty  of  3. 

Van  Buren,  133,  134,  135. 
Van  Halten  Arent,  7,  note  3. 
Van  Home,  Cornelius,    45. 
Van  Tienhoven,     Cornelius  7,  n, 

12;  notes  3,   10. 
Van  Vinge  n,  note   10. 
Verbrugge,    Johannes,   n,  note  10 
Verplanck    Gulian  C.,  141. 
Virginia  75,  see  Richmond. 

Walworth,  Chancellor,  44. 
Washington,  city,  116,   117, — Gen. 

George,   104 

Webb,  Colonel,  133,  134. 
Webbers,    Wolfert.  37,  39. 
Wheaton,  Henry,   117,   118. 
Wilkes,  Miss  61. 
Willey,  Noe,  39,   42  — Roy,   39,40, 

41,  42 

Webb,  Col.  133. 
Williams.  Roger,  xiv,  13. 
William  the  Silent,  3. 
Wilson,  59. 
Winterbotham,  71. 
Wolcott,  140 

Wolfertsen,  Pieter,  7,  note  3. 
Wolf,  Hon.     Simon,  55,    note  58. 

60,  note    63;    pleads  for  Haym 

Salomon's  descendants. 

Young,  Mrs.  C.  L.   106. 


ERRATA. 


Page  19,  note,  line  3.    For  "  De  Coster,"  read  "  Da  Costa." 

Page  26,  line  23.    For  "  may  have  it,"  read  "  may  have  bad  it." 

Page  31,  note,  line  13.    For  "  Riviero,1'  read  '  Rivera." 

Page  44,  line  15.     For  "  Harman,"  read  "  Harmon." 

Page  45,  lines  6,  n,  13,  16.     For  "  Col.  Phillips,"  read  "  Col.  Phillipse." 

Page  46,  note,  line  n.     For  "  adapted,"  read  "  adopted." 

Pa.se  49,  note,  lines  3,  28.    For  '•  Brida,"  read  "  Breda." 

Page  51,  note,  line  i.     For  "60,"  read  "61." 

Page  62,  note,  line  8.    Word  "  Editor  "  omitted. 

Page  75.  note,  line  10.    For  "  natural,"  read  •'  maternal.'1 

Page  109,  line  6     Substitute  comma  for  period,  •'  that  "  for  "  That." 

Page  115,  line  7.    Substitute  semi -colon  for  period,  read  "  That "  for  "  that. 

Page  117,  line  2.    For  "  Presidency,"  read  "  President." 

Page  135,  line  18.     For  "  after,"  read  "  afterwards." 

Page  135,  line  27.     For  •'  commercial,"  read  "  criminal." 

Page  155,  line  25.    For  "  ever,"  read  "  every." 


14  DAY  USE 

RETURN  TO  DESK  FROM  WHICH  BORROWED 

LOAN  DEPT. 

This  book  is  due  on  the  last  date  stamped  below, 
or  on  the  date  to  which  renewed.  Renewals  only: 

Tel.  No.  642-3405 

Renewals  may  be  made  4  days  prior  to  date  due. 
Renewed  books  are  subject  to  immediate  recall. 


-     FH50 


HECPID 


M      JUL201973    , 


A  Oft  3D 


nd  of 


LD21A-40m-8,'71 
(P6572slO)476-A-32 


7 


YD  12273 


.2 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


!i 
»!f!ili!"fi!i!Ki!!!!!!!!!}!!l !!!!!! 


liiiilll 

ililillll 
"11 


